The land­ing of the Hayabusa2 sam­ple-re­turn cap­sule

The first of the five TCMs was successfully completed on 22 October 2020, at a distance of some 17 million kilometres from Earth. The spacecraft's chemical thrusters were used for this and the subsequent TCMs. The next TCM was also successful; at a distance of nine million kilometres from Earth, the spacecraft made another fine adjustment to its course on 12 November 2020.

Approaching Earth

Once Hayabusa2 reached 3.5 million kilometres from Earth on 26 November 2020, the spacecraft shifted to a new trajectory that is aligned with the landing site near Woomera, Australia (at approximately 31 degrees south and 136 degrees east). This change of course set the re-entry trajectory for the capsule. The final correction to the spacecraft trajectory will be performed on 1 December 2020, when Hayabusa2 is about 1.8 million kilometres from Earth.

The separation of the landing capsule from the spacecraft is scheduled for 5 December 2020 between 06:00 and 07:00 CET, at a distance of approximately 200,000 kilometres from Earth; this is just over half the distance between Earth and the Moon. Shortly afterwards (between 07:00 and 09:00 CET), Hayabusa2 will perform its final manoeuvre to depart from this trajectory – otherwise, the spacecraft would also enter Earth’s atmosphere. This is not the plan; instead, the new trajectory will take Hayabusa2 back out into space for a new asteroid mission.

As soon as the sample capsule – rotating slowly around its axis – enters Earth’s atmosphere at a speed of twelve kilometres per second and an altitude of 120 kilometres, it will be slowed down by the atmosphere. Seven to eleven kilometres above Australia, between 18:30 and 18:33 CET, a parachute will be deployed then the heat shield in front will be ejected. The 40-centimetre capsule will land at the Woomera Test Range between 18:47 and 18:57 CET on 5 December 2020. This is between 02:47 and 02:57 JST (Japan Standard Time) or 05:17 am and 05:27 local (summer) time in Woomera on 6 December 2020 – shortly before sunrise. During the parachute flight, signals will already be transmitted to help a recovery team locate the 16-kilogram capsule. The team will then fly over the landing area in a helicopter to find the capsule using the locating signals and recover it in a complex procedure.