On July 5, the Japanese probe Hayabusa2 passed about 1 km from the asteroid Torifune at a speed of around 5 km/s. Beyond the science, this is a test of navigation precision - the foundation of planetary defense.
- On July 5, Hayabusa2 flew within ~1 km of the asteroid Torifune (~450 m) at ~5 km/s.
- The rendezvous/landing probe has been redirected toward fast flybys; JAXA is using it as a test of navigation precision for planetary defense.
- Read: squeezing the tool you already have to its limit - a principle we know well.
Old probe, new job. Hayabusa2 was built to rendezvous with and land on asteroids, and now it's training for something harder - hitting a small moving rock from millions of kilometers away.
Is there life in this - yes, and it's in the reuse. Instead of retiring the probe, they send it to sharpen the hardest thing: precision navigation. Planetary defense isn't a Hollywood explosion, it's precision - passing exactly where you calculated, from an enormous distance.
More inspiration than assignment. But I know the principle all too well - you squeeze the maximum out of the tool you already have, instead of waiting for the new and shiny one. The probe is old; the skills it's building are new.