Japan’s Asteroid Rovers Sends Pictures Of The Asteroid Ryugu

The two rovers owned by the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency, part of the Hayabusa 2 mission, are surveying the surface of the asteroid Ryugu.

It sends amazing photographs and information back to earth for studies and deeper investigation.

Tiny Explorers

These 2 tiny machines are called A1 and 2B, and they are armed with powerful cameras that can capture extremely detailed images of the asteroid’s surface. Each weighs less than 3 pounds, barely 7 inches across.

Science Hopping

Inside the rovers are machines equipped with a spinning mass, allowing them to “hop” as they travel across the asteroid. This motion gives them better vantage points in sending pictures compared when merely taken from the ground, covering a wider view of the area.

Checking Measurements

Aside from being able to give better perspective of its surveyed area, as it hops its is able to record various temperatures of the asteroid- on the ground and from above the surface- giving scientists a better array of measurements.

This photograph shows parts or rover 1A- the pin and the antenna. The latter is vital to maintain its transmission back to base, while the pin protects solar cells, provides friction as the rover hops. The pin also has sensors to determine the temperature.

A Distance of 175 Million Miles

The Hayabusa is the first ever mission to take photographs of an asteroid’s surface through its rovers. This activity takes place in asteroid Ryugu, 175 million miles away from the earth, serving as an inspiration for researchers all over the planet for collecting troves of valuable new information, and to explore more on the subject.

The Wisdom Segment

I John Barber passed away around 200 years ago, but he remains one of the most-studied human bodies of all time. His name may not sound familiar, but DNA experts know him well as an ancient vampire. Barbers body has a broken collar bone, missing upper front teeth, and an arthritic knee. He most likely died of tuberculosis.

II While his remains dont seem vampiric, for some reason, people during his time believed him to be one. His family was convinced they were being haunted by his ghost, so they dug his body up years after his death and rearranged it in the way customary for vampire deaths in 1800s New England.

III While John Barbers coffin was discovered in 1990 in Griswold, Connecticut, information about his death and unusual burial were brought to light thanks to modern technology. As the only alleged vampire body ever examined, his remnants are valuable to forensic scientists. His discovery revealed more about the vampire scare that haunted New England in the 1700s and 1800s, particularly in Rhode Island and Connecticut.

IV The vampire scare was actually a disease called consumption, or as it is called today, tuberculosis. As we now know, TB is highly infectious. Back then, people believed that those who passed away from it had the ability to rise from the grave and spread the disease to the living by draining their blood.

V The practice of burning a TB victims heart was done out of fear and love. People in the early days had no idea how the disease spread and so resorted to desperate measures to stop the plague. They were convinced the dead would infect the living, despite having crossed to the other side. To stop this from happening, people would dig up the bodies, take out their hearts, and burn them.

VI John Barbers heart was already decomposed when his family dug up his grave four years after his death. As an alternative, his head and limbs were removed and placed over his torso in a skull-and-crossbones formation. They reburied his body but changed the lid of the coffin to wood. The simple inscription, JB 55, symbolized his initials and age.