The scientific observation campaign of the Hayabusa-2 capsule re-entry
Eleanor K. Sansom, Hadrien A. R. Devillepoix, Masa‐yuki Yamamoto, Shinsuke Abe, Satoshi Nozawa, M. C. Towner, Martin Cupák, Yoshihiro Hiramatsu, Taïchi Kawamura, Kazuhisa Fujita, Makoto Yoshikawa, Yoshiaki Ishihara, Islam Hamama, Norihisa Segawa, Yoshihiro Kakinami, Muneyoshi Furumoto, Hiroshi Katao, Yuichiro Inoue, Andrew Cool, G. Bonning, Robert M. Howie, P. A. Bland
Abstract
Abstract On 2020 December 5 at 17:28 UTC, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Hayabusa-2 sample return capsule came back to the Earth. It re-entered the atmosphere over South Australia, visible for 53 seconds as a fireball from near the Northern Territory border toward Woomera where it landed in the the Woomera military test range. A scientific observation campaign was planned to observe the optical, seismo-acoustic, radio, and high energy particle phenomena associated with the entry of an interplanetary object. A multi-institutional collaboration between Australian and Japanese universities resulted in the deployment of 49 instruments, with a further 13 permanent observation sites. The campaign successfully recorded optical, seismo-acoustic, and spectral data for this event which will allow an in-depth analysis of the effects produced by interplanetary objects impacting the Earth’s atmosphere. This will allow future comparison and insights to be made with natural meteoroid objects.