Planetary Society logo
  • “Exploration is in our nature.” - Carl Sagan

Planetary Radio • Sep 23, 2026

Hayabusa2 flies by asteroid Torifune

Please accept marketing-cookies to listen to this podcast.

Download MP3

On This Episode

Paul abell portrait

Paul Abell

NASA Chief Scientist for Small Body Exploration, Johnson Space Center

Bruce betts portrait hq library

Bruce Betts

Chief Scientist / LightSail Program Manager for The Planetary Society

Sarah al ahmed headshot

Sarah Al-Ahmed

Planetary Radio Host and Producer for The Planetary Society

JAXA's Hayabusa2 flew within 400 meters (1,300 feet) of asteroid Torifune on July 5 and confirmed that it's a contact binary, two lobes stuck together. Paul Abell, NASA's Chief Scientist for Small Body Exploration at Johnson Space Center, walks us through the findings on the asteroid, what they mean for planetary defense, and what's ahead as the spacecraft cruises toward its next target. Then Bruce Betts, chief scientist at The Planetary Society, digs into Hayabusa2's history of firing things at asteroids.

Torifune from Hayabusa2
Torifune from Hayabusa2 The asteroid Torifune, as imaged by JAXA's Hayabusa2 spacecraft as it flew by.Image: JAXA, The University of Tokyo, Chiba Institute of Technology, Institute of Science Tokyo, AIST, Paris Observatory, IAC
Hayabusa2 Second Touchdown (short clip)
Hayabusa2 Second Touchdown (short clip) This short clip shows Hayabusa 2's second touchdown, which occurred on 11 July 2019 at 01:06 UTC, as seen from the spacecraft's small monitor camera (CAM-H). The sequence plays at roughly 10 times normal speed. See the full video here.Image: JAXA
Hayabusa2 Target Marker E Drop Images
Hayabusa2 Target Marker E Drop Images This overlay of images shows Hayabusa2 dropping a target marker (TM-E) toward the surface of asteroid Ryugu from a height of 1 kilometer on 17 September 2019. The images were taken 4 seconds apart for 1 minute as the spacecraft ascended at a rate of 11 centimeters per second. The marker's descent speed is almost zero. Hayabusa2 dropped 2 markers on 17 September as part of a gravity experiment aimed at learning more about Ryugu’s interior. The markers bear names collected by The Planetary Society and JAXA in 2013.Image: JAXA, Chiba Inst. Tech & collaborators

This content is hosted by a third party (youtube.com), which uses marketing cookies. Please accept marketing cookies to watch this video.

Hayabusa2 touchdown video This video of Hayabusa2's 21 February 2019 touchdown on asteroid Ryugu was created using frames from the spacecraft's small monitor camera (CAM-H). The video starts 59 seconds before final descent and the playback speed is 5x real time, covering 5 minutes and 40 seconds total.Video: JAXA

This content is hosted by a third party (youtube.com), which uses marketing cookies. Please accept marketing cookies to watch this video.

Images from Hayabusa2's MASCOT lander These 20 images were captured by the Mobile Asteroid Surface Scout (MASCOT) after it was deployed by Japan's Hayabusa2 spacecraft from a height of 41 meters above asteroid Ryugu on 3 October 2018. MASCOT fell for 6 minutes, struck a rock, and went tumbling across the surface like a dice in slow motion, finally coming to a rest on its side 7 minutes later.Video: MASCOT/DLR/JAXA

Related Links