Hayabusa 2 Successfully Completes Flyby of Asteroid Torifune

• JAXA's Hayabusa 2 spacecraft performed a successful flyby of the near-Earth asteroid 98943 Torifune on July 5, reaching within approximately 800 meters.
• Close-up imagery confirms Torifune is a contact binary, formed by two distinct asteroids that spiraled together.
• The spacecraft continues its extended mission toward the target 1998 KY26, with arrival scheduled for 2031.

The Torifune Flyby

• During the encounter, the spacecraft traveled at a relative speed of 5 km/s, utilizing the Optical Navigation Camera (ONC-T), Near-Infrared Spectrometer (NIRS3), Thermal InfraRed Imager (TIR), and LIDAR to collect data.
• Observations confirm the elongated shape suggested by earlier ground-based studies.
• Torifune is classified as an S-type (stony/siliceous) asteroid with a diameter of about 450 meters.

Future Mission Milestones

• Hayabusa 2 faces fuel constraints, with less than half of its original xenon propellant remaining for ion thruster maneuvers.
• Upcoming schedule:
  • December 2027: Earth swing-by.
  • June 2028: Second Earth swing-by.
  • July 2031: Arrival at 1998 KY26, a water-rich, fast-rotating object believed to be a monolithic chunk rather than a rubble pile.
• JAXA expects to release further data from the Torifune flyby as information is returned to Earth.