Japan's Hayabusa 2 mission lands on the surface of a distant asteroid

Japan's Hayabusa 2 mission lands on the surface of a distant asteroid

The coolest mission you haven't heard of just hit a major milestone: the Japanese Hayabusa 2 probe has reached its destination, the asteroid Ryugu, and just deployed a pair of landers to its surface. Soon it will touch down itself and bring a sample of Ryugu back to Earth! Emboldened by and having learned much from the first mission, Hayabusa 2 packs more equipment and plans a much longer stay at its destination.