We dunno what's more wild: This vid of Japan's probe bouncing off an asteroid to collect a sample – or that the rock was sun-burnt

Close-up footage of asteroid Ryugu, taken by the Hayabusa 2 spacecraft as it touched down to retrieve a sample, reveals the near-Earth object’s surface may have been torched by the Sun as its orbit changed over time. Ryugu, shaped like a spinning-top, circles our star once every 16 months and hangs out between Earth and Mars. …

[DerekCurrie]

It Survived The Encounter, Bringing Home the Baked-On

That's what's wild. Well done!

[Anonymous Coward]

The Great Japanese Bake Off

Here's wishing the samples a safe journey home (followed by the inevitable traveler's quarantine). I do wonder if other data has ruled out tholins as a possible cause of the reddening.

Sapporos all around for the boffins.

[Chris G]

Re: The Great Japanese Bake Off

Tholins should be quite possible, it is close enough to the sun to get a decent tan so any organics that may be present would be well irradiated if they are on the surface.

Hayabusa has so far pulled off an amazing feat.

[aregross]

A *small* bullet? That *small* bullet appeared to kick-off some good sized chunks, looking at the shadows.

...and Yes, that was Awesome!

[Anonymous Coward]

Not so much Hayabusa! as Cowabunga! ?

[jake]

It might be turtles all the way down.

[Julian Bradfield]

It was a 5g tantalum bullet fired at 300 m/s.

[phuzz]

I hope it had "This is for the dinosaurs" written on the side.

[redpawn]

Did I hear a bling sound?

Did it get a power up from this landing, or does it still need to touch another asteroid first?

[Tom Paine]

That's no asteroid

The shadow of the spacecraft looks strangely familiar...

[Scene it all]

Re: That's no asteroid

It is an updated version of Hayabusa1, which performed a similar mission 15 years ago. Both are shaped like cubes with solar panels hanging off one side and various sensors and antennas in other places. Propoulsion is by ion engines, hence the large solar panels..

[rchrd]

Eggheads?

"Eggheads"? I thought that term went out of style by 1970. Really?

Eggheads.

Almost as bad as "boffins".

I think you're trying much to hard to be clever.

How about "scientists", or "researchers". Or are you adhering to the style sheet of the Daily Mail?

Sheesh.

[Intractable Potsherd]

Re: Eggheads?

I'd say "you must be new here", but it seems you've been around for a decade or so. "Boffin" and "egghead" are the highest accolades on this here site, and that's the way we like it.

[jake]

Re: Eggheads?

Maybe not new, but definitely not paying attention.

P'raps 'es been off searchin' fer a sparc?

[Rattlerjake]

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

If you really believe in this crap count yourself as one of the gullible sheeple!

[Intractable Potsherd]

Re: BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Ummm - what?

[jake]

Re: BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Bad troll. No cookie.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

I find it's usually best to supply them with a cookie: they get upset otherwise. But, well, you can add things to the cookie dough. Rat poison works well on under-bridge-dwellers, I find.

[jake]

Re: BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

"I find it's usually best to supply them with a cookie"

If you feed the trolls you get to keep them.

[hoola]

Cool Stuff

Hats off to the team for achieving this. I just hope they can get the mission back safely.

[Uffish]

To quote WikipediA ...

The total flight distance would be 5,240,000,000 km by the time the sample return capsule re-enters Earth's atmosphere. Not a bad range on one tank of Xenon.

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm still amazed

that we've got photos of the shadow side of Saturn. Why can we be so awesome and also so idiotic and destructive?

[Michael H.F. Wilkinson]

Brilliant stuff!

Might raise a glass of Nikka whisky to that, if I still have some

[Neil Barnes]

All that effort the asteroid took

to get into a stable orbit... and those fleshy meatsacks from the third world out have gone and given it a nudge!

[Clunking Fist]

Re: All that effort the asteroid took

Yeah, my first thought was "So this will be how civilisation ends: when Ryugu's new orbit brings it to earth in x years time" Now would be a good time for someone to point out that it is so small, it would simply burn up in our atmosphere. However, the larger asteroid it will nudge is the one I'm worrying about.