The Small Carry-on Impactor (SCI) operation successfully took place on April 5. A 2kg copper mass was fired using the collision apparatus to collide with Ryugu. The gravel released from the surface of Ryugu was photographed by the deployable camera, DCAM3. However, the images from DCAM3 do not show how Ryugu's surface has been altered by the impact. Hayabusa2 will therefore descend and make observations in the vicinity of the SCI collision area.

The CRA2 operation will take place from April 23 – 25, 2019, with preparation for the descent beginning on April 23, the descent itself starting on April 24 and the observations at the lowest altitude (about 1.7km) on April 25. The spacecraft will then rise on April 25. Figure 1 shows the location of the observations. The area to be observed is the same as that observed on March 22 in the Crater Search Operation (Pre-SCI) (CRA1).

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  Figure 1: Region observed in CRA2. (image credit: JAXA).

The schedule for the CRA2 operation is shown in Figure 2. The spacecraft begins its descent at a speed of 0.4 m/s on April 24 at 16:42 JST (all times are onboard times). The speed is reduced to 0.1 m/s on April 25 at around 03:02. The descent will then continue and reach the lowest altitude (at about 1.7 km) at round 11:16 and continue to observe at this altitude for a while. The spacecraft will begin to rise at 12:53 and return to the home position. Please note that these are the planned times and the actual operation time may vary.

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  Figure 2: Schematic diagram of the CRA 2 operation. (Image credit: JAXA).
  Note that the times listed here may differ during the actual operation.

Hayabusa2 Project
2019.04.24