Abstract
A sub-surface investigation is one of the desired missions in small body exploration. Since the surface materials that have been exposed for a long time to space have been potentially altered by space weathering and heat processes, investigating underground materials and conditions is very important to clarify the “true nature” of the asteroid. Hayabusa2 is equipped with a small impact system named the SCI (Small Carry-on Impactor), which blows off the asteroid's surface regolith and generates an artificial crater. We also developed a miniature camera named the DCAM3 (Deployable CAMera 3) to image the process of artificial crater creation. We conducted a kinetic impact experiment on April 5, 2019. The SCI created a large crater whose diameter was larger than 10m, and the DCAM3 succeeded in observing the impact ejecta from Ryugu. Hayabusa2 performed the second touchdown operation to obtain sub-surface samples exposed by the impact on July 11, 2019. This paper first introduces the overviews of the SCI and DCAM3. Then the operational plan and result of the impact experiment are summarized.
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