Seminar held on Japan’s Hayabusa2 space probe

AMMAN — The Jordanian Astronomical Society, the Arab Union for Astronomy and Space Sciences, and the Japanese embassy on Thursday co-hosted a scientific online seminar on Hayabusa2 Mission of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). 

The Hayabusa2 Mission was an unscrewed space exploration operation that brought back rock samples from asteroid Ryugu. Samples collected by a space probe Hayabusa2, which had been launched on December 3, 2014, from the asteroid Ryugu arrived on earth on  December 6, 2020 after being dropped off from Hayabusa2, according to a Japanese embassy statement.

The seminar was attended by a guest panelist from JAXA, Yoshikawa Makoto, associate professor of the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science and mission manager of Hayabusa2 Project. He is a world leading astronomer once nominated in “Nature’s 10, Ten people who mattered in 2018”, whose research field is celestial mechanics, the statement said.

In the seminar participated by more than 160 viewers, President of the Jordanian Astronomical Society (JAS) Awni Khasawneh and Japan’s Ambassador to Jordan Shimazaki Kaoru made their opening remarks.  

Yoshikawa gave a presentation on the Hayabusa2 Mission, advanced technologies used for the Mission, and the future prospects of JAXA mission. 

From the JAS side, Hanna Sabat and Ammar Sakaji explained the orbital dynamics of asteroids, followed by a lecture from Adli Halabi who gave an overview of the 2021 space missions. 

The ambassador appreciated the opportunity to bring both Japanese and Jordanian experts together, hoping that the seminar can be a trigger for further development of academic exchanges between the two countries.