IT'S ROCK N' FLYBY TIME! Now on an extended mission, JAXA's #Hayabusa2 will attempt flyby observations of asteroid Torifune at around 18:30 JST tonight (07/05) 🛰️👀🪨 Turning a rendezvous mission into a flyby spacecraft is not trivial, requiring crazy high precision navigation for a close approach. But this is exactly what we might need to do to protect the Earth on short notice. It's time for a very fast practice run... 🏃♀
Update from the Hayabusa2# team over on the bad place:
09:54 JST and optical navigation has begun. All is well.
OK... HOW CLOSE ARE WE REALLY TALKING FOR THIS ASTEROID FLYBY? 🛰️👀🪨 Today at ~18:30 JST, Hayabusa2 will attempt a flyby exploration of asteroid Torifune. This web app by Otsuka Minoru let's you try the flyby at different distances... including... 0m.
https://o-tsuka.net/haya2flyby/
(WHY WOULD YOU DO 0m?! WHY DO I KEEP CLICKING ON THAT OPTION?!)
If you'd like to follow the Hayabusa2# flyby of asteroid Torifune today in real time 🛰️🔭, Otsuka Minoru also put together a real-time version of his flyby web app!
He notes that nothing will appear on the screen until a few minutes before the flyby just before 18:30 JST (because... that's a flyby...) but he flips the camera angles to keep us entertained.
At 12:40 JST, the team confirmed that the onboard trajectory guidance calculation has begun. All is well.
At 15:00 JST, the final ΔV (trajectory change) operation was performed from the ground. We are still nominal 🫡
At 17:37 JST on July 5, ground control confirmed that the onboard trajectory guidance had commenced. The spacecraft condition is normal.
NOBODY BREATH!
Hayabusa2 has performed the Torifune flyby, and on July 5 at 18:35 JST, ground control confirmed that the spacecraft is operating normally.
@elizabethtasker 110,000 kilometers to go!
@tsturm OH YES, the app tells you! That is cool.
@elizabethtasker thank you, this is appreciated!
Would not sign „All is well“, though…
@elizabethtasker Some top quality, scientifically rigorous hanging around on the youtube feed!
@elizabethtasker Everyone's applauding. Either someone got a high score in Chucky Egg or the flyby has worked.
@withaveeay could be either, they’re pretty geeky.
@withaveeay @elizabethtasker What really goes on in mission control... https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=t4Fy6AUMv8E
@elizabethtasker Do we know how close the flyby was? I don’t know if there would be any instrument on board to provide actual measurements at these speeds.
@tsturm The plan was 800m from the asteroid centre. I don't think that will have changed, so I believe the main uncertainty will be the shape of Torifune, which will determine the distance from the surface.
@tsturm I think LIDAR was going to be attempted, but they'll have to download all the data.
@elizabethtasker It’s probably another peanut-shaped thing… the solar system’s planets must have come in a giant box and we now find those packing peanuts all over the place. 😅
@elizabethtasker Ryugu-no-tsukai is extremely adorable! 😊
Good luck with the flyby tonight!
Jul 5, 2026, 7:14 AM@elizabethtasker Good luck, Hayabusa Ni-chan!