Japan's Hayabusa2 aims to probe asteroid "1998KY26" in 2031

Japan's Hayabusa2 space explorer will aim to probe the asteroid "1998KY26" located between the orbits of Earth and Mars in 2031 after completing its current mission of collecting samples from another asteroid, the country's science minister said Tuesday.It is hoped Hayabusa2 will approach the ball-shaped asteroid, which has a diameter of around 30 meters and rotates about every 10 minutes, in July 2031, Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Minister Koichi Hagiuda said.The probe is expected to observe the spinning asteroid by camera without landing on it, according to the Japan…READ FULL ARTICLE