Hayabusa2 Spacecraft Begins Long Trip Home With Asteroid Samples
After a 17-month rendezvous with an asteroid hurtling through space some 200 million miles from Earth, Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft is on its way home. In a tweet, Japan’s space agency (JAXA) described the spacecraft’s departure from the Ryugu asteroid on Wednesday as “an emotional moment.” But Hayabusa2 isn’t coming back empty-handed. Assuming its homecoming is…