Mobile Asteroid Surface Scout (MASCOT)

Hayabusa2 Lander Mania: Results from MASCOT, Plans for MINERVA-II2

Japan's sample return spacecraft only has about 3 months left at asteroid Ryugu. Its next action will be to drop more stuff on the surface.

www.planetary.org

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.

Click to expand...