162173 Ryugu

162173 Ryugu is a near-Earth object and a potentially dangerous asteroid of the Apollo group. It is about 1 kilometer (0.6 mi) in diameter and is a dark object.[1]

In June 2018, the Japanese spacecraft, Hayabusa2, arrived at the asteroid.[2] After making measurements and taking samples, Hayabusa2 left Ryugu for Earth in November 2019[3] and returned to Earth on 5 December 2020.

162173 Ryugu Media

References

  1. Sugita, S.; Honda, R.; Morota, T.; Kameda, S.; Sawada, H.; Tatsumi, E.; Honda, C.; Yokota, Y.; Yamada, M.; Kouyama, T.; Sakatani, N. (July 2019). "Ryugu's Parent-Body Processes Estimated from Hayabusa2 Multi-Band Optical Observations". LPICo. 82 (2157): 6366. Bibcode:2019LPICo2157.6366S. ISSN 0161-5297.
  2. Chang, Kenneth; Stirone, Shannon (19 March 2019). "The Asteroid Was Shooting Rocks Into Space. 'Were We Safe in Orbit?'". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/19/science/bennu-ryugu-asteroids.html. Retrieved 21 March 2019. "NASA's Osiris-Rex and Japan's Hayabusa2 spacecraft reached the space rocks they are surveying last year, and scientists from both teams announced early findings on Tuesday.". 
  3. Stephen Clark (November 13, 2019). "Japanese sample return craft departs asteroid, heads for Earth"./