TopicsThe “Goodbye Ryugu” campaign

On November 13, 2019 at 10:05 JST (onboard time), the Hayabusa2 spacecraft departed from asteroid Ryugu to return to Earth. Until November 18 ~ 19, images of the receding Ryugu will be captured by the camera mounted on the spacecraft (images here). After this time, the spacecraft will perform an attitude control maneuver to the orientation needed to operate the ion engines and will no longer be able to take photographs of Ryugu.

Therefore, from the departure from Ryugu until November 19, we would like to recruit messages about Ryugu and Hayabusa2 as part of the “Goodbye Ryugu” campaign. Please send a message to the Hayabusa2 Project! (Please understand that messages may be opened to the public.)

You can send your message via Twitter, on a postcard or in a letter:

■ Twitter

Please tweet your message with the hashtag #SAYONARA_Ryugu .

If you already have a Twitter account, you can also post via this post link with the hashtag.

■ Postcards and letters

Please send to the Hayabusa2 Project.
(JAXA Institute of Space & Astronautical Science (ISAS), 3-1-1 Yoshinodai, Chuo-ku, Sagamihara City, Kanagawa Prefecture, 252-5210, Japan)

■ Application period

November 13, 2019 (Wednesday) ~ November 19, 2019 (Tuesday) .


5 years after launch and at the conclusion of about a year and a half of missions at Ryugu, we would love to hear your thoughts on Hayabusa2 and asteroid Ryugu.


  • [Open in a separate window]
    Figure 1: Asteroid Ryugu captured with the Optical Navigation Camera - Telescopic (ONC-T) immediately after departure. Image time is November 13 10:15 JST (onboard time), 2019.
    Image credit ※: JAXA, Chiba Institute of Technology, University of Tokyo, Kochi University, Rikkyo University, Nagoya University, Meiji University, University of Aizu, AIST.

Hayabusa2 Project
2019.11.13



※ Please use the displayed credit when reproducing these images. In the case where an abbreviated form is necessary, please write "JAXA, Chiba Institute of Technology & collaborators".