Overview of Hayabusa2 extended mission's flyby of Near-Earth Asteroid (98943) Torifune

TL;DR

Hayabusa2's extended mission includes a planned flyby of asteroid Torifune, aiming to gather scientific data and demonstrate long-term spacecraft maintenance and planetary defense technologies.

Contribution

This paper provides an overview of the upcoming flyby of asteroid Torifune and details the mission's scientific and engineering objectives during the extended mission phase.

Findings

Flyby planned at 1-10 km distance from Torifune.

Flyby speed of approximately 5.25 km/s.

Mission aims to study material transport and planetary defense.

Abstract

The Hayabusa2 extended mission, nicknamed Hayabusa2# (# is pronounced SHARP, which stands for the Small Hazardous Asteroid Reconnaissance Probe), is JAXA's small body explorer to conduct science and engineering investigations in space. After the successful return to the Earth with the samples from the carbonaceous asteroid (162173) Ryugu on December 6, 2020, Hayabusa2 diverted away from Earth to start its decade-long extended mission. The major scope includes engineering demonstration of long-term maintenance strategies for spacecraft and operation systems and scientific investigations during various mission phases. Major scientific investigations include spacecraft-based telescopic observations of exoplanets and zodiacal dust observations during the cruise phase, flyby observations of the near-Earth asteroid (98943) Torifune in July 2026, and rendezvous observations of near-Earth asteroid 1998 KY26 in 2031. This study overviews Hayabusa2#'s flyby and the physical properties of Torifune. Although the flyby operation planning is still ongoing, the mission will attempt to fly by the target at a distance (from the asteroid's center) of ~1-10 km. The flyby speed is planned to be 5.25 km/s, while the encounter location is 0.81 au from the sun. The mission plans to fix the spacecraft's orientation during the flyby, only allowing for a very limited pointing change to attain higher resolution imaging. The mission will attempt to obtain science and engineering returns during the flyby. The planned investigations will offer stronger insights into material transport mechanisms in the inner solar system and a demonstration of planetary defense technologies.