Spacecraft to take 10-years cruise to a new space rock.

 

Japan's Hayabusa 2 successfully shot the asteroid Ryugu with a specially designed bullet in 2019 before briefly landing on it to scoop up some of the disturbed gravel. The sample will be returned to Earth, with a planned landing in Australia this December. But now the Japanese Space Agency (JAXA) is sending the spacecraft on a long voyage to another target. 

After dropping off the sample of Ryugu at Earth, Hayabusa 2 will set a course for another asteroid: 1998 KY26, which is a spherical rock with a diameter a little larger than a tennis court.

This asteroid's orbit takes it between the orbits of Venus and Mars, meaning it's relatively close to Earth, but Hayabusa 2 will take a somewhat roundabout path to visit it. 

As JAXA announced at a press conference Tuesday, the spacecraft will spend about five years between 2021 and 2026 or 2027 in a sort of long-term cruise control before performing a fly-by of another asteroid, 2001 CC21. It will then make a few swings by Earth in preparation for a mid-2031 arrival at 1998 KY26 where it will check out the fast-rotating micro asteroid and mission planners will weigh the possibility of trying to land on it. 

No word yet on if Hayabusa 2 will try and shoot 1998 KY26 as well, but it seems likely that the spacecraft is all out of ammunition at this point.