This image released by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) shows an explosive dropped from Hayabusa2 spacecraft to make a crater on the asteroid Ryugu Friday, April 5, 2019. Japan's space agency JAXA said its Hayabusa2 spacecraft successfully dropped the "small carry-on impactor" made of copper onto the asteroid and collect its underground samples to find possible clues to the origin of the solar system. (JAXA via AP)

This image released by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) shows an explosive dropped from Hayabusa2 spacecraft to make a crater on the asteroid Ryugu Friday, April 5, 2019. Japan's space agency JAXA said its Hayabusa2 spacecraft successfully dropped the "small carry-on impactor" made of copper onto the asteroid and collect its underground samples to find possible clues to the origin of the solar system. (JAXA via AP)

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s space agency said an explosive dropped Friday from its Hayabusa2 spacecraft successfully blasted the surface of an asteroid for the first time to form a crater and pave the way for the collection of underground samples for possible clues to the origin of the solar system.

Friday’s mission was the riskiest for Hayabusa2 because it had to immediately move away so it wouldn’t get hit by flying shards from the blast.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, said Hayabusa2 dropped a small explosive box which sent a copper ball the size of a baseball slamming into the asteroid, and that data confirmed the spacecraft had safely evacuated and remained intact. JAXA later confirmed the impact from images transmitted from a camera left behind by the spacecraft which showed the impactor being released and fine particles later spraying dozens of meters (yards) out from a spot on the asteroid.

“The mission was a success,” JAXA project manager Yuichi Tsuda said, beaming. “It is highly likely to have made a crater.”

JAXA plans to send Hayabusa2, which was moved to the other side of the asteroid, back to the site after dust and debris settle for observations and to collect samples of material from the new crater that was unexposed to the sun or space rays. Scientists hope the samples will help them understand the history of the solar system, since asteroids are left over material from its formation.

No such samples have been recovered. In a 2005 “deep impact” mission to a comet, NASA observed fragments after blasting the surface but did not collect them.

Last month, JAXA announced that a group of scientists participating in the Hayabusa2 mission had detected hydroxyl-bearing minerals on the asteroid by analyzing near-infrared spectrometer readings by the spacecraft. It said that could help explain where the Earth’s water came from. The results were published in the online edition of Science magazine.

“So far, Hayabusa2 has done everything as planned, and we are delighted,” mission leader Makoto Yoshikawa said earlier Friday. “But we still have more missions to achieve and it’s too early for us to celebrate.”

Hayabusa2 successfully touched down on a small level area on the boulder-strewn asteroid in February, when it also collected some surface dust and small debris. The craft is scheduled to leave the asteroid at the end of 2019 and bring the surface fragments and underground samples back to Earth in late 2020.

The asteroid, named Ryugu after an undersea palace in a Japanese folktale, is about 300 million kilometers (180 million miles) from Earth.

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Follow Mari Yamaguchi at https://www.twitter.com/mariyamaguchi</s>Japan's space agency said its Hayabusa2 spacecraft successfully dropped an explosive designed to make a crater on an asteroid and collect its underground samples to find possible clues to the origin of the solar system.

Friday's crater mission is the riskiest for Hayabusa2, as it had to immediately get away so it won't get hit by flying shards from the blast.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, said that Hayabusa2 dropped a 'small carry-on impactor' made of copper onto the asteroid Friday morning, and that data confirmed the spacecraft safely evacuated and remained intact.

JAXA is analysing data to examine if or how the impactor made a crater.

The copper explosive is the size of a baseball weighing 4.4 pounds (2kg).

It was designed to come out of a cone-shaped piece of equipment.

A copper plate on its bottom was to designed turn into a ball during its descent and slam into the asteroid at 1.2 miles (2km) per second.

JAXA plans to send Hayabusa2 back to the site later, when the dust and debris settle, for observations from above and to collect samples from underground that have not been exposed to the sun or space rays.

Scientists hope the samples will be crucial to determine the history of the asteroid and our planet.

If successful, it would be the first time for a spacecraft to take such materials. In a 2005 'deep impact' mission to a comet, NASA observed fragments after blasting the surface but did not collect them.

In this computer graphics image released by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the Hayabusa2 spacecraft is seen above on the asteroid Ryugu. Japan's space agency JAXA said Friday, April 5, 2019, its Hayabusa2 spacecraft released an explosive onto an asteroid to make a crater on its surface and collect underground samples to find possible clues to the origin of the solar system. The mission is the riskiest for Hayabusa2, as it has to immediately get away so it won't get hit by flying shards from the blast. (ISAS/JAXA via AP)

This image released by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) shows the asteroid Ryugu Friday, April 5, 2019. Japan's space agency JAXA said its Hayabusa2 spacecraft released an explosive onto the asteroid to make a crater on its surface and collect underground samples to find possible clues to the origin of the solar system. Friday's mission is the riskiest for Hayabusa2, as it has to immediately get away so it won't get hit by flying shards from the blast. (JAXA via AP)

After dropping the impactor, the spacecraft was to move quickly to the other side of the asteroid to avoid flying shards from the blast. While moving away, Hayabusa2 also left a camera to capture the outcome. One of its first photos showed the impactor being successfully released and headed to the asteroid.

'So far, Hayabusa2 has done everything as planned, and we are delighted,' said mission leader Makoto Yoshikawa. 'But we still have more missions to achieve and it's too early for us to celebrate with 'banzai.''

Hayabusa2 successfully touched down on a tiny flat surface on the boulder-rich asteroid in February, when the spacecraft also collected some surface dust and small debris. The craft is scheduled to leave the asteroid at the end of 2019 and bring surface fragments and underground samples back to Earth in late 2020.

The asteroid, named Ryugu after an undersea palace in a Japanese folktale, is about 300 million kilometers (180 million miles) from Earth.

FILE - This Feb. 22, 2019, file image released by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) shows the shadow, center above, of the Hayabusa2 spacecraft after its successful touchdown on the asteroid Ryugu. Japan's space agency JAXA said Friday, April 5, 2019, its Hayabusa2 spacecraft released an explosive onto an asteroid to make a crater on its surface and collect underground samples to find possible clues to the origin of the solar system. The mission is the riskiest for Hayabusa2, as it has to immediately get away so it won't get hit by flying shards from the blast. (JAXA via AP, File)</s>A Japanese probe began descending towards an asteroid on Thursday on a mission to blast a crater into its surface and collect material that could shed light on the solar system's evolution.

The mission will be the latest in a series of explorations carried out by the Japanese space agency's Hayabusa2 probe and could reveal more about the origin of life on Earth.

But the task scheduled for Friday will be the riskiest yet of Hayabusa2's investigations, and involves the release of a device filled with explosives.

The so-called "small carry-on impactor", a cone-shaped device capped with a copper bottom, will emerge from Hayabusa2 on Friday, after the probe has arrived just 500 metres above the asteroid Ryugu.

The probe will then depart the area, and the impactor is programmed to explode 40 minutes later, propelling the copper bottom towards Ryugu, where it should gouge a crater into the surface of the asteroid that sits 300 million kilometres from Earth.

Hayabusa2 will move away from the area to avoid being damaged by debris from the explosion or the collision with Ryugu.

As it does so it will release a camera slightly above the site of the detonation that should be able to capture images of the event.

The camera should be able to transmit those images, but it is unclear when the first confirmation of the mission's success will come.

It will take two weeks for the probe itself to return to its "home position" near Ryugu after the detonation and impact.

"We are thrilled to see what will happen when the impactor collides with the asteroid," Takashi Kubota, engineering researcher at the Japanese space agency (JAXA), told reporters earlier this week.

The crater could be as large as 10 metres in diameter if the surface is sandy, but a smaller three metres across if it is rocky, according to JAXA scientists.

NASA's Deep Impact project succeeded in creating an artificial crater on a comet in 2005, but only for observation purposes.

The aim of the crater on Ryugu is to throw up "fresh" material from under the asteroid's surface that could shed light on the early days of the solar system.

In February, Hayabusa2 touched down briefly on Ryugu and fired a bullet into the surface to puff up dust for collection, before blasting back to its holding position.

The asteroid is thought to contain relatively large amounts of organic matter and water from some 4.6 billion years ago when the solar system was born.

The Hayabusa2 mission, with a price tag of around 30 billion yen ($270 million), was launched in December 2014 and is scheduled to return to Earth with its samples in 2020.

Photos of Ryugu — which means "Dragon Palace" in Japanese and refers to a castle at the bottom of the ocean in an ancient Japanese tale — show the asteroid has a rough surface full of boulders.

Hayabusa2 observes the surface of the asteroid with its camera and sensing equipment but has also dispatched two tiny MINERVA-II rover robots as well as the French-German robot MASCOT to help surface observation.

At about the size of a large fridge, Hayabusa2 is equipped with solar panels and is the successor to JAXA's first asteroid explorer, Hayabusa — Japanese for falcon.

That probe returned with dust samples from a smaller, potato-shaped asteroid in 2010, despite various setbacks during its epic seven-year odyssey and was hailed as a scientific triumph.

Tech2 is now on WhatsApp. For all the buzz on the latest tech and science, sign up for our WhatsApp services. Just go to Tech2.com/Whatsapp and hit the Subscribe button.</s>TOKYO — Japan’s space agency said Monday that its Hayabusa 2 spacecraft will follow up last month’s touchdown on a distant asteroid with another risky mission — dropping an explosive on the asteroid to make a crater and then collect underground samples for possible clues to the origin of the solar system.

Hayabusa 2 made history on Feb. 22 when it successfully touched down on the boulder-strewn asteroid and collected some surface fragments.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said Hayabusa 2 will drop an impactor the size of a baseball weighing 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) on the asteroid on April 5 to collect samples from deeper underground that have not been exposed to the sun or space rays.

The mission will require the spacecraft to move quickly to the other side of the asteroid so it won’t get hit by flying shards from the blast, JAXA project engineer Takanao Saeki said. “It will be very challenging.”

While moving away, Hayabusa 2 will leave a camera to capture the outcome. The spacecraft is to wait a few weeks before returning to the area above the crater for observations.

The mission will allow JAXA scientists to analyze details of the crater to determine the history of the asteroid, said Koji Wada, who is in charge of the project.

A day before the mission, Hayabusa 2 will start descending to the asteroid from its home position of 20 kilometers (12 miles) away. It will drop a cone-shaped piece of equipment containing explosives that will blast off a copper plate on its bottom. That will turn into a ball and slam into the asteroid at 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) per second.

JAXA projects it will create a crater of up to 10 meters (32 feet) in diameter with a depth of 1 meter (3.3 feet) if the underground structure is soft. A crater created on a rock-like structure would be smaller.

During its February touchdown, Hayabusa 2 extended a sampler pipe and shot a pinball-like bullet into the asteroid surface to collect dust and tiny fragments.

JAXA plans to have Hayabusa 2 briefly land in the crater, but agency researcher Takashi Kubota said they may prioritize safety for the spacecraft and not do so. If it is successful, it would be the first time for a spacecraft to take materials from underground, Kubota said.

Hayabusa 2 is scheduled to leave the asteroid at the end of 2019 and bring surface fragments and underground samples back to Earth in late 2020 for analysis.

In a 2005 “deep impact” mission to a comet, NASA observed fragments after blasting the surface but did not collect them.

The asteroid, named Ryugu after an undersea palace in a Japanese folktale, is about 900 meters (3,000 feet) in diameter and about 300 million kilometers (180 million miles) from Earth.

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SIGN UP FOR THE MACH NEWSLETTER AND FOLLOW NBC NEWS MACH ON TWITTER, FACEBOOK, AND INSTAGRAM.</s>In this computer graphics image released by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the Hayabusa2 spacecraft is seen above on the asteroid Ryugu. Japan's space agency JAXA said Friday, April 5, 2019, its Hayabusa2 spacecraft released an explosive onto an asteroid to make a crater on its surface and collect underground samples to find possible clues to the origin of the solar system. The mission is the riskiest for Hayabusa2, as it has to immediately get away so it won't get hit by flying shards from the blast. (ISAS/JAXA via AP)

TOKYO (AP) — Japan's space agency said its Hayabusa2 spacecraft released an explosive onto an asteroid to make a crater on its surface and collect underground samples to find possible clues to the origin of the solar system.

Friday's crater mission is the riskiest for Hayabusa2, as it had to immediately get away so it won't get hit by flying shards from the blast.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, said that Hayabusa2 dropped a "small carry-on impactor" made of copper onto the asteroid Friday morning, and that the spacecraft safely evacuated and remained intact. JAXA is analyzing further details.

The copper explosive is the size of a baseball weighing 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds).

JAXA plans to send Hayabusa2 back to the site later, when the dust and debris settle, for observations from above and to collect samples from underground that have not been exposed to the sun or space rays. Scientists hope the samples will be crucial to determine the history of the asteroid and our planet.

If successful, it would be the first time for a spacecraft to take such materials. In a 2005 "deep impact" mission to a comet, NASA observed fragments after blasting the surface but did not collect them.

After dropping the impactor, the spacecraft was to move quickly to the other side of the asteroid to avoid flying shards from the blast. While moving away, Hayabusa2 was also to leave a camera to capture the outcome, which would take time to reach Earth for analysis.

Hayabusa2 successfully touched down on a tiny flat surface on the boulder-rich asteroid in February, when the spacecraft also collected some surface dust and small debris.

The craft is scheduled to leave the asteroid at the end of 2019 and bring surface fragments and underground samples back to Earth in late 2020.

The asteroid, named Ryugu after an undersea palace in a Japanese folktale, is about 300 million kilometers (180 million miles) from Earth.</s>TOKYO (AP) - Japan's space agency said an explosive dropped Friday from its Hayabusa2 spacecraft successfully blasted the surface of an asteroid for the first time to form a crater and pave the way for the collection of underground samples for possible clues to the origin of the solar system.

Friday's mission was the riskiest for Hayabusa2 because it had to immediately move away so it wouldn't get hit by flying shards from the blast.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, said Hayabusa2 dropped a small explosive box which sent a copper ball the size of a baseball slamming into the asteroid, and that data confirmed the spacecraft had safely evacuated and remained intact. JAXA later confirmed the impact from images transmitted from a camera behind left by the spacecraft which showed the impactor being released and debris later spraying from a spot on the asteroid.

"The mission was a success," JAXA project manager Yuichi Tsuda said. "It is highly likely to have made a crater."

JAXA plans to send Hayabusa2, which was moved to the other side of the asteroid, back to the site after dust and debris settle for observations and to collect samples of material from the new crater that was unexposed to the sun or space rays. Scientists hope the samples will help them understand the history of the solar system, since asteroids are left over material from its formation.

No such samples have been recovered. In a 2005 "deep impact" mission to a comet, NASA observed fragments after blasting the surface but did not collect them.

"So far, Hayabusa2 has done everything as planned, and we are delighted," mission leader Makoto Yoshikawa said earlier Friday. "But we still have more missions to achieve and it's too early for us to celebrate."

Hayabusa2 successfully touched down on a small level area on the boulder-strewn asteroid in February, when it also collected some surface dust and small debris. The craft is scheduled to leave the asteroid at the end of 2019 and bring the surface fragments and underground samples back to Earth in late 2020.

The asteroid, named Ryugu after an undersea palace in a Japanese folktale, is about 300 million kilometers (180 million miles) from Earth.

In this computer graphics image released by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the Hayabusa2 spacecraft is seen above on the asteroid Ryugu. Japan's space agency JAXA said Friday, April 5, 2019, its Hayabusa2 spacecraft released an explosive onto an asteroid to make a crater on its surface and collect underground samples to find possible clues to the origin of the solar system. The mission is the riskiest for Hayabusa2, as it has to immediately get away so it won't get hit by flying shards from the blast. (ISAS/JAXA via AP)

This image released by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) shows the asteroid Ryugu Friday, April 5, 2019. Japan's space agency JAXA said its Hayabusa2 spacecraft released an explosive onto the asteroid to make a crater on its surface and collect underground samples to find possible clues to the origin of the solar system. Friday's mission is the riskiest for Hayabusa2, as it has to immediately get away so it won't get hit by flying shards from the blast. (JAXA via AP)

FILE - This Feb. 22, 2019, file image released by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) shows the shadow, center above, of the Hayabusa2 spacecraft after its successful touchdown on the asteroid Ryugu. Japan's space agency JAXA said Friday, April 5, 2019, its Hayabusa2 spacecraft released an explosive onto an asteroid to make a crater on its surface and collect underground samples to find possible clues to the origin of the solar system. The mission is the riskiest for Hayabusa2, as it has to immediately get away so it won't get hit by flying shards from the blast. (JAXA via AP, File)</s>Japan’s Hayabusa-2 spacecraft, which landed on the asteroid Ryugu in February, is going to “bomb” the giant space rock to make a large crater and collect more samples.

Tonight, the Hayabusa-2 will engage in this “crater operation” (April 4 in the U.S. and the morning of April 5 at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) headquarters), where it will shoot asteroid Ryugu with explosives to create an artificial crater, Space.com reported. A live broadcast from mission control will be available in English on JAXA’s YouTube channel, starting at 8:30 p.m. EST. The explosion will most likely take place around 9:30 p.m. EST.

On Thursday, JAXA announced the start of the “small carry-on impactor” (SCI) phase of the Hayabusa-2 mission, CNET noted. The SCI is a 4.4-pound cluster of copper that will be fired at asteroid Ryugu at a super-high speed of 4,474 mph. The aim of the SCI phase is to analyze the asteroid’s underlying structure, collect some samples, and learn about the solar system’s past.

The operation, which will take about 40 minutes, will involve the SCI separating itself from the main Hayabusa-2 spacecraft, which will then go to the other side of the asteroid to protect itself from the big blast. While it’s on the move, the Hayabusa-2 will release a camera that will observe the impact approximately 0.6 miles away, and eventually send some cool photos back to Earth. Following this, the Hayabusa-2 will come close to the asteroid’s surface and engage the onboard explosives to develop the crater.

After the dust from the impact settles, the Hayabusa-2 will move away from its hiding spot. If everything goes according to plan, scientists aim to send the spacecraft closer to asteroid Ryugu’s surface to observe the crater and maybe grab some samples from the freshly-blasted area.

For more updates on the SCI operation, follow Hayabusa-2’s Twitter account.
• Japan’s Hayabusa-2 to Drop Explosive on Asteroid Ryugu to Create Crater</s>Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft has completed yet another intense mission: It used an explosive to blast a crater in the surface of the asteroid Ryugu. This success comes after the probe briefly touched down on the asteroid in February, firing a tantalum bullet into the surface in hopes of kicking up debris.

On Thursday, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Hayabusa2 deployed its Small Carry-On Impactor Operation (SCI) to create an artificial crater that the probe will then be able to study. The JAXA team hopes this will allow them to observe how craters form in general on the asteroid. This was a complex, multi-part experiment, and a process that in total boiled down to a critical window of about 40 minutes.

After deploying SCI and before detonation, Hayabusa2 had to reposition itself at a safe distance, out of the path of potential debris. According to the Planetary Society, this essentially involved scooting sideways before dipping downward so that it was situated somewhat behind Ryugu.

During the evacuation process, the spacecraft released its Deployable Camera 3 (DCAM3), which captured the action from about a kilometer away. As you can see in the tweeted image above, the SCI indeed kicked up debris after colliding with Ryugu. The DCAM3 is equipped with two cameras, one high-resolution digital camera and one low-resolution analog camera that should beam back images in real time.

Along with studying the aftermath of the artificial crater created by the impactor, Hayabusa2 might also be able to collect a sub-surface sample.

Ahead of Thursday’s blast attempt, scientists had a fairly rough estimate of how big a crater the explosive could produce. While some models put the width of the crater at around 10 meters, the target location for the impact had a 200-meter margin of error that accounted for different surface types, according to Planetary Society. We’re still waiting on updates from JAXA to learn more about the nature of the newly created crater.

Hayabusa2 rendezvoused with Ryugu in June 2018 following a four-year journey, and it has spent the last year carrying out all sorts of experiments. In addition to deploying MINERVA-II rovers and the MASCOT lander, the spacecraft in February completed one of its biggest mission goals: touching down on and firing a bullet into the asteroid’s surface, in hopes of kicking up debris that could be collected as samples and brought back to Earth.

We won’t know for sure whether the probe managed to snatch up samples until it returns to Earth in late 2020.

Hayabusa2 isn’t the only spacecraft currently studying a near-Earth asteroid. NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is currently visiting the asteroid Bennu. If all goes according to plan, the NASA spacecraft will collect its own samples and bring them back to Earth in 2023.</s>TOKYO — Japan’s space agency said its Hayabusa2 spacecraft successfully dropped an explosive designed to make a crater on an asteroid and collect its underground samples to find possible clues to the origin of the solar system.

Friday’s crater mission is the riskiest for Hayabusa2, as it had to immediately get away so it won’t get hit by flying shards from the blast.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, said that Hayabusa2 dropped a “small carry-on impactor” made of copper onto the asteroid Friday morning, and that data confirmed the spacecraft safely evacuated and remained intact. JAXA is analyzing data to examine if or how the impactor made a crater.

The copper explosive is the size of a baseball weighing 2 kilograms. It was designed to come out of a cone-shaped piece of equipment. A copper plate on its bottom was to turn into a ball during its descent and slam into the asteroid at 2 kilometers per second.

JAXA plans to send Hayabusa2 back to the site later, when the dust and debris settle, for observations from above and to collect samples from underground that have not been exposed to the sun or space rays. Scientists hope the samples will be crucial to determine the history of the asteroid and our planet.

If successful, it would be the first time for a spacecraft to take such materials. In a 2005 “deep impact” mission to a comet, NASA observed fragments after blasting the surface but did not collect them.

After dropping the impactor, the spacecraft was to move quickly to the other side of the asteroid to avoid flying shards from the blast. While moving away, Hayabusa2 also left a camera to capture the outcome. One of its first photos showed the impactor being successfully released and headed to the asteroid.

“So far, Hayabusa2 has done everything as planned, and we are delighted,” said mission leader Makoto Yoshikawa. “But we still have more missions to achieve and it’s too early for us to celebrate with ‘banzai.'”

Hayabusa2 successfully touched down on a tiny flat surface on the boulder-rich asteroid in February, when the spacecraft also collected some surface dust and small debris. The craft is scheduled to leave the asteroid at the end of 2019 and bring surface fragments and underground samples back to Earth in late 2020.

The asteroid, named Ryugu after an undersea palace in a Japanese folktale, is about 300 million kilometers from Earth.</s>Today is a big day for humanity. We have bombed an asteroid, finally exacting revenge for what the asteroids did to the dinosaurs. There’s a valid scientific reason, too. The Japanese Hayabusa 2 spacecraft is collecting material from the asteroid Ryugu, and blasting it with a massive kinetic projectile is a good way to expose material from deep below the surface.

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched the spacecraft in 2014, and it took more than two years for it to reach Ryugu more than 186 million miles (300 million kilometers) from Earth. After meeting up in deep space, Hayabusa 2 began mapping the surface of Ryugu to develop a plan of attack.

Hayabusa 2 has a sampling arm designed to gently touch the surface of Ryugu. To get material into the sampling arm, the probe carries a few 5-gram tantalum slugs it can fire at high speed. Earlier this year, Hayabusa 2 successfully fired off one of its two bullets to help it scoop up a few fragments of the asteroid.

JAXA confirms Hayabusa 2 has now dropped the bomb on Ryugu — the bomb, in this case, is the 5.5-pound (2.5kilogramsm) Small Carry-on Impactor (SCI). The SCI is actually a self-contained launching platform with a shaped HMX explosive charge that propels the impactor at 2 kilometers per second. Hayabusa 2 deployed the SCI and then moved to a safe location on the other side of the asteroid before JAXA launched the SCI at the surface. Images from the probe confirm the SCI hit Ryugu, blasting material into space.

Hayabusa 2 will wait a bit before it heads back to the impact site, but JAXA hopes it will find a crater several meters across. The floor of the crater should have pristine asteroid regolith that hasn’t been bombarded by radiation for uncountable eons. It’s as close as we can come to getting a sample of the early solar system. Hayabusa 2 will eventually descend to the surface in order to collect a sample from the crater. It also carries another small tantalum bullet to excavate another surface sample.

Hayabusa 2 isn’t collecting pieces of Ryugu to keep them in deep space. The probe has a sample-return container, which JAXA plans to launch back to Earth in the coming months. It might contain as much as 100 milligrams of asteroid material when it gets here in late 2020.
JAXA space probe Hayabusa2 successfully fires a bullet at Apollo asteroid 162173 Ryugu, forming a crater which will be used to collect underground samples.