On this day in space! Dec. 3, 2014: Japanese spacecraft launches to an asteroid

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On Dec. 3, 2014, Japan launched the Hayabusa2 spacecraft on a mission to fetch a sample from an asteroid.

On Dec. 3, 2014, Japan launched the Hayabusa2 spacecraft on a mission to fetch a sample from an asteroid.

Artist’s impression of Hayabusa 2 taking a sample off of asteroid Ryugu. (Image credit: JAXA)

After searching for a good landing site, the Hayabusa2 mothership will descend down to the surface, scoop up some asteroid dirt, and return the sample to Earth by the end of 2020. By studying the asteroid sample up close, scientists hope to learn more about the history of our solar system.

On This Day in Space: See our full 365-day video archive!

Hanneke Weitering
Hanneke Weitering
Contributing expert

Hanneke Weitering is a multimedia journalist in the Pacific Northwest reporting on the future of aviation at FutureFlight.aero and Aviation International News and was previously the Editor for Spaceflight and Astronomy news here at Space.com. As an editor with over 10 years of experience in science journalism she has previously written for Scholastic Classroom Magazines, MedPage Today and The Joint Institute for Computational Sciences at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. After studying physics at the University of Tennessee in her hometown of Knoxville, she earned her graduate degree in Science, Health and Environmental Reporting (SHERP) from New York University. Hanneke joined the Space.com team in 2016 as a staff writer and producer, covering topics including spaceflight and astronomy. She currently lives in Seattle, home of the Space Needle, with her cat and two snakes. In her spare time, Hanneke enjoys exploring the Rocky Mountains, basking in nature and looking for dark skies to gaze at the cosmos. 

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