Two daring spacecraft aim to bring asteroid dust back to Earth
The pristine space material may help explain life’s beginnings
TREASURE HUNTERS Two spacecraft, Hayabusa2 (left) and OSIRIS-REx (right), began exploring two ancient asteroids in 2018. Both craft are expected to pick up samples of their respective rocks and carry them to Earth.
Hayabusa2: DLR (CC BY 3.0); OSIRIS-REx: Conceptual Image Lab/NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Shogo Tachibana greeted asteroid Ryugu with dread.