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Hayabusa2 Enters Safe Mode Amid Asteroid Mission

4/16/2025

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Summary

Story summary

Japan's Hayabusa2 spacecraft has entered "safe mode" following an anomaly detected on March 21. This comes after its triumphant delivery of asteroid Ryugu samples to Earth in December 2020. Now on a journey to asteroid 1998 KY26, it is set to arrive in 2031, while JAXA continues to investigate the situation.

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Story summary

Japan's Hayabusa2 spacecraft has entered "safe mode" following an anomaly detected on March 21. This comes after its triumphant delivery of asteroid Ryugu samples to Earth in December 2020. Now on a journey to asteroid 1998 KY26, it is set to arrive in 2031, while JAXA continues to investigate the situation.