The Scientific Observation Campaign of the Hayabusa-2 Capsule Re-entry

TL;DR

This paper details a comprehensive scientific observation campaign involving multiple instruments and institutions to study the re-entry of the Hayabusa-2 capsule, providing valuable data on interplanetary object impacts.

Contribution

It presents a coordinated multi-institutional effort to record diverse phenomena during a spacecraft re-entry, enhancing understanding of interplanetary object atmospheric interactions.

Findings

Recorded optical, seismo-acoustic, and spectral data of the re-entry

Established a multi-instrument observational framework

Data will enable in-depth analysis of impact effects

Abstract

On 5th December 2020 at 17:28 UTC, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Hayabusa-2 sample return capsule came back to the Earth. It re-entered the atmosphere over South Australia, visible for 53 seconds as a fireball from near the Northern Territory border toward Woomera where it landed in the the Woomera military test range. A scientific observation campaign was planned to observe the optical, seismo-acoustic, radio and high energy particle phenomena associated with the entry of an interplanetary object. A multi-institutional collaboration between Australian and Japanese universities resulted in the deployment of 49 instruments, with a further 13 permanent observation sites. The campaign successfully recorded optical, seismo-acoustic and spectral data for this event which will allow an in depth analysis of the effects produced by interplanetary objects impacting the Earth's atmosphere. This will allow future comparison and insights to be made with natural meteoroid objects.