Scientists told them, 'No, it's too dangerous,' but they did it anyway: Inside Japan's super-close asteroid...

Key Points:

• Japan's Hayabusa2 spacecraft performed a daring close flyby of the near-Earth asteroid Torifune on July 5, capturing unexpectedly large and detailed images revealing it as a contact binary composed of two rock chunks.
• The flyby distance was controversially reduced from the usual 100 kilometers to just 800 meters, pushing the spacecraft’s capabilities to the limit and involving heated debates among JAXA’s science and engineering teams over safety and feasibility.
• Hayabusa2 used new onboard guidance software for navigation during the flyby, marking a technological advancement, and successfully gathered data from all four science instruments, including the first possible LIDAR ranging measurement during an asteroid flyby.
• The mission's success demonstrates JAXA's ability to conduct rapid, close-proximity reconnaissance of small celestial bodies, a capability important for planetary defense and future asteroid impact mitigation strategies.
• After the flyby, Hayabusa2 resumed its cruise phase toward Earth flybys in 2027 and 2028, with the bulk of scientific data still to be transmitted over the coming months.