Japan launches Hayabusa2 space probe
12:40, 3 December 2014
TANEGASHIMA. KAZINFORM Japan's space agency launched the Hayabusa2 probe from the Tanegashima Space Center in southwestern Japan on Wednesday on a mission to travel to an asteroid 300 million kilometers from Earth to collect rock samples.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency probe was launched on an H-2A rocket on course for the 900-meter wide asteroid 1999 JU3. The probe is expected to reach the asteroid in 2018 and return to Earth in late 2020. JAXA hopes Hayabusa2 will bring back samples containing water and organic matter, which may help illuminate the history of the solar system and the origins of life on Earth, Kyodo reports.