Space & Aeronautics

Scientists have succeeded in creating what they called the first-ever artificial crater on an asteroid, a step toward shedding light on how the solar system evolved, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said Thursday.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is preparing to announce by the end of this year its participation in a U.S.-led project to build a manned base in a lunar orbit, its president revealed Monday.

Japan's Hayabusa2 space probe has successfully fired a bomblike projectile at an asteroid in the first attempt at artificially forming a crater to see what lies below the surface, with hopes of illuminating the evolution of the solar system and life.

The unmanned space probe Hayabusa2 has detected small amounts of minerals containing water on the surface of the asteroid Ryugu, a Japanese research team has said.

Japan is planning to request help from other countries to operate the Subaru Telescope, located near the top of Hawaii’s Mauna Kea volcano, in order to increase available funding and widen the scope of research activities, officials said Thursday.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has released photographs and video showing its space probe Hayabusa2 touching down on the asteroid Ryugu.

Toyota is teaming up with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency on a planned mission to the moon, with the auto giant expected to develop a lunar rover, officials and local media said Wednesday.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's pinpoint landing of an asteroid probe was a technical achievement made possible only by working with the private sector to keep up with better-funded counterparts in the U.S. and China.

A probe launched by JAXA to examine the Ryugu asteroid, 300 million kilometers from Earth, for clues about the origin of life and the solar system successfully landed on the space rock Friday, scientists said.

Japan’s Hayabusa2 unmanned space probe began its approach Thursday toward a distant asteroid on a mission to collect material that could provide clues to the origin of the solar system and life on Earth.