Hayabusa2 flies past asteroid as Japan aims to acquire data for planetary defense
AI Summary
Japan's Hayabusa2 spacecraft performed a flyby of an asteroid to collect data useful for planetary defense. This marks a new mission phase after completing its primary mission in 2020 when it returned samples from asteroid Ryugu.
The encounter marks a new phase for Hayabusa2, which completed its primary mission in 2020 after returning samples from the asteroid Ryugu to Earth.