Japan’s Hayabusa 2 spacecraft is on its way home. The asteroid-visiting, sample-return mission departed asteroid Ryugu (162173 Ryugu) on Wednesday, beginning its year-long journey back to Earth. And it’s carrying some precious cargo. Hayabusa 2 launched in December 2014, and arrived at Ryugu near the end of June, 2018. Ryugu is a carbonaceous near-Earth asteroid. … Continue reading It’s Time for Hayabusa-2 to Come Home