The summer-like weather of the previous week during the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) now seemed to be a lie, as the maximum temperature in Adelaide on Monday, October 6th was 15ºC. The clocks in Adelaide had changed to daylight saving time the previous day, but the seasons seemed to have come to a standstill. The clocks jump one hour forward when they change for the summer in Australia, so Sunday had been effectively 23 hours long as there was an hour missing between 2am and 3am. If you are not careful, you might plan to wake at 8am but actually find it is 9am and miss an important appointment. Japan does not use daylight savings (our clocks stay the same year round), so we had to be particularly careful.
The cityscape of Adelaide is a blend of historic and modern architecture, with the past and presence standing side-by-side on the same streets.
The asteroid Ryugu sample grain and Hayabusa2 spacecraft model that had been on display at the IAC in Sydney had now been transported by Steve Campbell and Maddie Parks from the Australian Space Agency (ASA) to Adelaide, where the ASA headquarters is located. ASA opened the Australian Space Discovery Centre (ASDC) in Adelaide for public exhibitions, and a new exhibit introducing the asteroid sample returned by the Hayabusa2 mission was about to be unveiled.
The 4m diameter ring sculpture in front of the ASA headquarters represents the entire Universe, with the white illuminated section representing the mere 5% that we can see and the remaining black steel representing the 95% of the Universe that is in the form of dark matter and dark energy, and is invisible to us. This dark section evokes endless questions. And in addition to symbolising the challenges faced in space science, it's also a great photo spot!
The Australian Space Discovery Centre (ASDC) hosts public exhibitions at the ASA headquarters in Adelaide.
The image of Australia's first astronaut, Katherine Bennell-Pegg, welcomes guests to the ASDC. Bennell-Pegg visited us at the JAXA Institute of Space and Astronautical Science in May this year. (See photos from her visit here.)
Inside the Australian Space Discovery Centre (ASDC) there are many interactive touch panel exhibits.
This interactive exhibit at the ASDC was showing that there are more than 26,000 artificial satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO).
In December 2020, the JAXA Hayabusa2 spacecraft returned to Earth after a journey of approximately 5.24 billion kilometres. High above our planet, the spacecraft separated a capsule containing material collected from asteroid Ryugu which landed in the Woomera Desert in South Australia. The recovery team had flown from Japan to Adelaide, the capital of South Australia, in preparation to collect the capsule. Once the capsule landed back on Earth, the team were on a blistering tight deadline to retrieve asteroid sample. From detections of the beacon attached to the capsule, and several other search techniques that included tracing the path of the fireball created as the capsule entered the atmosphere, the team located the capsule and flew direct from Woomera's small runway to bring the sample safely back to the protective curation facilities in Japan. The asteroid Ryugu sample had passed close to Adelaide, but did not directly visit the city.
Five years later, and this Ryugu sample that would only have glimpsed the city lights of Adelaide is now returning as a staring guest. In the ASDC exhibition, the asteroid grain will be seen by researchers, children, and ASA members who supported the recovery operations in 2020. A reunion is about to begin!
The opening ceremony of the new exhibit was attended by the Governor of South Australia, Her Excellency the Honourable Francis Adamson AC, the Honorary Consul-General of Japan in Adelaide Adam Wynn, the Head of the Australian Space Agency Enrico Palermo, and JAXA ISAS Director General Fujimoto Masaki.
The unveiling ceremony of the asteroid Ryugu exhibit. Representatives from South Australia, ASA, and JAXA ISAS were ready to pull back to the curtain! From left to right, Chief Executive of South Australian Space Industry Centre Matt Opie, Mr Rod Bunten, South Australian Governor, Her Excellency the Honourable Frances Adamson, Honorary Consul-General of Japan in Adelaide Adam Wynn, JAXA ISAS Director General Fujimoto Masaki, Head of ASA Enrico Palermo.
The new exhibit is revealed! The asteroid Ryugu sample can now be seen in its own exhibition corner.
The South Australian Governor, Her Excellency the Honourable Frances Adamson with her husband, Mr Rod Bunten, and JAXA ISAS Director General Fujimoto Masaki with Honorary Consul-General of Japan in Adelaide Adam Wynn.
Following the unveiling ceremony, ISAS Director General Fujimoto gave a special lecture, covering a wide range of topics from the asteroid exploration of the Hayabusa2 mission, the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) lunar landing, the Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission which is scheduled to launch next fiscal year 2026, and future Mars exploration. The venue atmosphere was cheerful and warm during the 30 minute talk, which featured humorous and light-hearted anecdotes as well as cutting-edge science and technology.
The talk began by highlighting the importance of exploring primordial small celestial bodies such as asteroids that can reveal conditions in the early Solar System, and how sample return is a crucial key to understanding the origins of our planets. But any space mission is packed with surprises. After arriving at asteroid Ryugu, the images returned by Hayabusa2 of the treacherous surface forced the team to reassess their strategy for landing. The flexibility to revise the mission plan was an essential component to success, ultimately leading to two touchdowns to collect material and the generation of an artificial crater to explore subsurface material. DG Fujimoto noted that while Ryugu was clearly "very unwelcoming", the same was not true for Australians, lightening the mood as we pondered the difficult space missions! Despite the difficult surface conditions, a second touchdown was attempted once it was determined that there was minimal chance of the spacecraft being lost, even if the sample collection was not successful. The result was a sample collected from material ejected during the creation of the artificial crater, allowing the team to bring home grains from beneath the asteroid surface.
ISAS Director General Fujimoto explains the challenges of the touchdown operations to collect samples from asteroid Ryugu in front of a movie captured by the spacecraft as it descended to the asteroid surface.
Looking back on the capsule recovery at Woomera in 2020, DG Fujimoto emphasised the power of the close cooperation between Japan and Australia which played a pivotal role in ensuring the success despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. He noted that the capability of the local teams was outstanding, from visual observations of the re-entry capsule fireball to the beacon tracking and helicopter search.
When the talk turned to the SLIM lunar lander mission, DG Fujimoto highlighted the significance of the image matching navigation used to achieve the accurate pinpoint landing, ushering in an era of "small, smart, targeted landings". Combined with the experience from Hayabusa2 for redesigning operations on the fly, this is likely to become a fundamental technology for the next-generation explorers of small celestial bodies, the Moon, Mars, and their subsurface. At the conclusion, DG Fujimoto emphasised the friendly relationship between Japan and Australia, noting that the record achieved with the Hayabusa2 capsule recovery will directly influence the future recovery of the return capsule for the Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission. Australia's geography, systems, and reliability are key strengths for sample recovery.
A short movie created by the Australian Space Agency to commemorate the opening of the asteroid Ryugu sample exhibit. The video introduces the partnership between Japan and Australia that supported the return of the Hayabusa2 capsule and the recovery of the samples from Ryugu.
"Big catch!" - ISAS Director General Fujimoto Masaki points to a photograph of the Hayabusa2 sample container and explains the significance of this collection.
Leading on from Hayabusa2 and SLIM, ISAS Director General Fujimoto spoke about the collaboration between Japan and Australia for the Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission with the message, "it is a fun thing to do together!".
During the Question and Answer session, a child raised their hand and asked the pertinent question, "Weren't you worried that it might not work out?". DG Fujimoto replied, "There are a lot of preparations before launch. But at the same time, we are exploring places where we do not know what is there. No matter how much preparation you do, there are always unknowns. I used to be worried about everything, but then I realised that no matter what happens, the team would overcome the difficulties together and it will be fine."
When he was asked about how he felt about a mission to Mars, DG Fujimoto answered, "Mars is truly fascinating, and everyone is interested! This is why many countries have sent spacecraft to Mars. However, landing on Mars is extremely complex and by no means easy. We have to convince people that it is worthwhile, and we need to work in a way that justifies all our efforts. Thanks to our talented engineers, we are designing new technology that takes a distinctly different approach to what has been done before."
Now, the Ryugu sample grain has been delivered to the ASDC in Adelaide, Australia, where visitors and the Australian people are able to share their joy and pride in this achievement.
After the talk, ISAS Director General Fujimoto answered questions from the audience that included people of all ages. This is a smile that we don't see at work! (Oops, let's keep that a secret.)
The new exhibit at the ASDC. The model of Hayabusa2 (1:20 scale) and explanations of the asteroid Ryugu sample accompany the display of the asteroid grain. A live enlarged view of the asteroid grain can be seen on the tablet.
After completing the entire itinerary, we left Adelaide and transferred at Sydney to return to Japan. With "SYD Departures" behind us, our mission was complete!
（2025/11/12）