Yes, Japan just bombed an asteroid

RadishRose

RadishRose

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Location
Connecticut, USA
Eyes on Earth have been impatiently watching Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft for that moment when it would smash the asteroid Ryugu in the face.

JAXA finally did it last night, by shooting a projectile through the darkness to blast a crater into the 3,000-foot-wide piece of space rock. Why? So it can be studied further, of course. When most people on this side of the planet were going to bed or watching late-night TV at around 10:00 p.m. ET, Hayabusa’s Small Carry-on Impactor (SCI) operation was getting ready to throw a cosmic punch.

Hayabusa2 will still be keeping a robotic eye on Ryugu from a distance and studying its newly exposed innards. The sample that reaches human hands could tell us more about the birth of the solar system and even the emergence of life on Earth. Asteroids are thought to have brought water and organic molecules to our nascent planet.

By the way, another asteroid is about to get punched soon (if you call 2022 soon), this time by NASA. Sci-fi movies couldn’t do this better.


(via Space.com)

https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/japan-just-bombed-an-asteroid
 

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Nothing against the folks in Japan or NASA but it makes me sad that we feel the need to destroy things that we don't understand in order to study them.

I hope that no space critters were home at the time.
 
Aunt Bea said:
Nothing against the folks in Japan or NASA but it makes me sad that we feel the need to destroy things that we don't understand in order to study them.

I hope that no space critters were home at the time.
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Aunt Bea with all do respect you do realize it was in outer space and it is a rock. This is vital to Earth's existence because we are trying to perfect landing crafts on asteroids that could hit Earth killing most of the population. The idea is the craft after landing would be capable of exerting force on the asteroids to deflect their trajectory if it is headed toward Earth. Also examining asteroids helps science unlock clues as to the origins of our planet and the universe. Some day science hopes to land on asteroids and mine them for minerals vital to humans.
 
fmdog44 said:
Aunt Bea with all do respect you do realize it was in outer space and it is a rock. This is vital to Earth's existence because we are trying to perfect landing crafts on asteroids that could hit Earth killing most of the population. The idea is the craft after landing would be capable of exerting force on the asteroids to deflect their trajectory if it is headed toward Earth. Also examining asteroids helps science unlock clues as to the origins of our planet and the universe. Some day science hopes to land on asteroids and mine them for minerals vital to humans.
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With all due respect, you really don't need to talk down to me or anyone else when you feel the need to express an opinion.

We are living on a rock in space too.
 
Aunt Bea said:
With all due respect, you really don't need to talk down to me or anyone else when you feel the need to express an opinion.

We are living on a rock in space too.
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My post was not an opinion, only fact so I was not talking down to you at all. Our planet is not a rock.
 

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