The Asteroid Explore Hayabusa 2 is closing in on its destination asteroid Ryugu smoothly and nicely. June 6, 2018, the two instruments, LIDAR (LIght Detection And Ranging) and NIRS3 (Near Infrared Spectrometer) , were switched on to confirm their operation. The distance between Hayabusa 2 and Ryugu is less than 770 km as of June 14. The operational team carries out the optical navigation trajectory correction maneuver and Hayabusa 2 is closing to Ryugu at a speed of 2.1 m/s.

The ONC-T (Optical Navigation Camera - Telescopic) onboard Hayabusa 2 took an image of Ryugu which extends 10 pixels as of June 13.

Left: An image of Ryugu taken by the ONC-T onboard Hayabusa 2. Observational time was 13:50 on June 13, 2018 (JST). The field of view is 6.3 x 6.3 degree, and the exposure time was 0.09 second.
Right: Enlarged image of the left. (Note 1)
(c) JAXA, Kyoto Univ., Japan Space Guard Association, Univ. Soel Univ. Tokyo, Kochi Univ., Rikkyo Univ., Nagoya Univ., Chiba Institute of Technology., Meiji Univ., Aizu Univ., AIST

On June 7, researchers conducted observations to search satellites (objects circulating around Ryugu) of Ryugu. The distance between Hayabusa 2 and Ryugu was around 2100 km, far enough to avoid the possible risk of satellite's impact. Even a tiny object causes fatal risk for the spacecraft. On the other hand, the discovery of a satellite gives a great impact scientifically. Although the observations to date suggest that there is no satellite larger than 50 cm, smaller objects can be found when Hayabusa 2 will closer to Ryugu. The researchers keep searching satellites till the arrival.

Note 1: Ground-based observational team: JAXA, Kyoto Univ., Japan Space Guard Association, Univ. Soel ONC team: JAXA, Univ. Tokyo, Kochi Univ., Rikkyo Univ., Nagoya Univ., Chiba Institute of Technology., Meiji Univ., Aizu Univ., AIST