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The building
blocks of the solar system

are quickly giving up their secrets.

Two major missions are on their way.

The NASA OSIRUS REx,

which is now closing in on
its target asteroid, Bennu,

and the JAXA mission, Hyabusa 2 to Ryugu,

which is well into it's
observation leg of the mission,

studying the asteroid up close.

Both missions hope to
return samples to earth

for a more complete study.

A three and a half year journey
to asteroid Ryugu is over,

and the Hyabusa 2 science mission begins.

Ryugu, part of the Apollo group,

is potentially a threat to
earth in the years to come.

It's an unusual asteroid, a CG type,

meaning it has qualities

of both C type and G type
carbonaceous asteroids.

It is just under a kilometer
in diameter and fast-moving.

As part of its payload,

the Hybusa 2 has several
deployable landers.

Two MINERVA II's, the
Franco-German Mascot lander,

and target acquisition
markers for the touchdown.

- Okay, we want to see the boulders,

we have a chance to view the boulders

in a vertical structure.

We also see the crack in the boulders,

there is also regulate.

We know from the spectral
information we have so far

that there is something
a little bit redder,

something a little bit
bluer on the surface,

so that's very interesting.

Because there are
differences on the surface,

we have the feeling that the bluer,

it may be a little bit
fresher than the redder.

And that basically gives us
a good idea of the history

of the material on the surface.

And of course there are a
number of landing sites,

which are red and blue,

or which have red and blue in it,

and that's probably preferred,
at least for the camera,

so we have chance to see
both of the surfaces.

- From the feedback I have obtained now

from our principle investigators
of the instruments,

seems to be that it's a
very interesting asteroid.

And that there are several aspects

which is covering the science
objective of each instrument.

First to be
deployed to the asteroid

were two MINERVA probes.

These rovers are based on
the original MINERVA craft

flown on Hyabusa 1,

which unfortunately failed to
land on their target asteroid.

These ones, however, were successful.

They have radioed back
several stunning photographs

from the surface of the asteroid,

including this sequence of
the sun crossing the skyline

as the asteroid tumbles.

- Asteroid missions are very
important and very interesting

from the scientific point of view

because it is believed
that asteroid and comets

are bringing water to the earth

in the very early phase of
the development of the earth.

And with this water and
also organic materials,

it is believed that life
on earth has developed

and very importantly,

is also to understand the
evolution of the solar system,

because asteroid are supposed
to be building blocks

of our early solar system.

- The Hyabusa 2 mission has
been years in the making.

As with any deep space probe,

years are spent on the drawing board

developing the hardware and software.

Then come years of construction
and extensive testing.

The aim of the Hyabusa 2 mission

is to learn more about
the origin and evolution

of the solar system.

As asteroids account

for some of the most
primordial celestial bodies,

researching them gives us a
glimpse into our cosmic past.

Scientists are keen to learn more

about the properties and
structure of near earth asteroids

in order to gain new insights

into how our solar system formed,

and how water and life emerged on earth.

It's an audacious mission.

- I mean, they're flying to an asteroid,

now we map the asteroid, then
a lander will be deployed,

like Mascot or MINERVA.

They're trying to do three samples

and then they have also
explosives on board

to produce a crater on the
surface in the asteroid.

I mean, to me it's a unique
mission they are doing,

and we are a part of it,
so I'm really proud of it.

- And, of course, we are
interested in the geology,

the geomorphology, the structure,

the size of the big boulders,

and also the structure of the regulate,

and giving some hints of the
evolution of the surface,

of the forming and evolution
of the surface of Ryugu.

And I think for a camera,

all of the landing sites are quite okay.

So the most interesting thing
is to see the big boulders

from the vertical structure.

We really can look how deep
they are in the surface,

and there are many boulders on Ryugu,

so I'm pretty sure we'll get a good view

of this interesting part of this asteroid.

The second
batch of asteroid landers,

developed by the German and
French space organizations,

were launched and after a short free fall,

successfully landed at
the southern hemisphere

of asteroid Ryugu.

After bouncing several times
on the rock strewn surface,

the two landers have begun
their scientific research.

- And you know that
Mascot is made to bounce.

That makes it robust,

but it also means that
the final resting location

is not exactly possible to calculate it.

So there's a dispersion of possible sites

and there are some variation in between.

There could be, among these
many, many possibilities,

some bad ones, and we have to go to places

where the chance to hit
a good one is highest,

but it does exclude that
we end up in a bad one.

- Autonomous handling doesn't mean

that Mascot is doing
everything as he likes to,

so there is lots of sequences
and commands that's behind,

which are carefully tested and planned.

So the robustness of these
sequences have to be tested

against all these difficult,
different conditions

we can meet on the asteroid.

So if we bounce or land more
in the west or more in the east

for this the input Mascot has,

which he uses for his autonomously,

this is really carefully
planned and tested.

And so there's all the work,

and I think we did a very
well job, and so I'm relaxed.

With it's four instruments,

including the Micro-Mica spectrometer,

developed by the IAS Space
Astrophysics Institute at Oxate,

with CNES oversight,

Mascot is set to analyze the
mineral composition of grains

in the asteroid's soil in an
attempt to unlock its secrets

at two sites just a few meters apart.

They also took some fascinating images.

- I think, at least for me,
the most important question

is the big number of boulders.

Where did they come from?

Why has this asteroid so many boulders?

Why are these boulders, to some extent,

covered by the surface, so
they are in the sub-surface?

And the question here is,

what are the source of the boulders?

Are they from the interior
or coming from outside,

or they are linked from
some kind of condition

from bigger body where Ryugu
is now a related part of it?

So, I think that's the
most important question.

- Mascot was operational
for over 17 hours,

during which it collected data
from the asteroid's surface

and transmitted it back
to Hyabusa 2 overhead,

which relayed the data back to earth.

The next probe to be released
is the third MINERVA robot,

the largest of the MINERVA's.

- I would like just to express
again this amazing work,

which the whole team has done.

DLR, as well as CNES,
as well as JAXA surely.

So, this was a very good example
of very good collaboration

on an international level,

and I hope that it will
go on in the future.

- GNC that has to tell
your autonomy manager,

the right side or which side
we should turn to upright.

The entire mission

has been a close
collaboration between nations.

Japanese, German, and French
scientists and engineers

have enjoyed over a decade
of scientific cooperation,

even if there are language barriers.

- I like this because

it's a small mission with little overhead.

And it's very nice to
work with the Japanese,

because they are very success oriented,

they are willing to take risks,

they have also, because
of language issues,

much less paperwork than NASA or ESA does.

So most things are done in discussions,

and you agree on something,
you look into your eyes

and say yes we do it, yes,
and you rely on the words.

You don't sign big papers,
and that's something I like,

because it makes work so much
easier and smooth and quick.

Oh yes, the mission is very good.

There are in all the
teams from Hyabusa Mascot,

there are very excellent engineers

and also very excellent scientists,

so I'm really, really
confident and excited.

And that's the first time we do this.

The Hyabusa 2
mission is very interesting

from the point of view

because Hyabusa 2 is
investigating a C type asteroid.

Ryugu is a very primitive asteroid,

which is supposed to have
organic material on the surface.

In addition, Hyabusa 2
has got in situ signs

provided by the Mascot lander,

and also two to three further
small MINERVA landers,

and it is, or it will bring
some samples back to earth,

so that we can investigate
it then on earth in the labs.

In the spirit
of friendly competition,

NASA was quick to congratulate JAXA

for reaching their asteroid first.

- This is Dante Lauretta,
leader of the NASA OSIRUS REx

asteroid sample return mission,

congratulating you on
the successful approach

to asteroid Ryugu.

We're all very proud of your
amazing accomplishments so far,

and we look forward to
working with you together

over the next year to
maximize the scientific return

from our two missions.

- NASA's OSIRUS REx probe

is about to reach its target, Bennu,

another CG type asteroid
close to earth's orbit.

A less ambitious mission,
OSIRUS REx will touch down

and retrieve a surface sample,
then return it to earth.

- Asteroids are very interesting objects,

so they are very primary.

They are the fundamental things

and fundamental material
of the solar system.

And on the other hand
they have, to some extent,

they cross the orbit of the earth,

they are dangerous, and just
to know their structure,

composition will help

in order to avoid a
collision with the earth

if this might happen.

And that will give us enough information

in order to really find a way to mitigate

this kind of catastrophic future.

And there is no shortage

of conceivably dangerous
asteroids out there.

- It's one of the main points, of course.

Because we really cannot exclude it

but it's on a long time scale,

but in any case, we know from the past,

and we know from the
past four billion years

that this is a real danger for planets.

- Sixty six million years ago

one asteroid measuring
10 kilometers across

completely changed earth's climate,

wiping out two thirds of living species,

and consigning the dinosaurs

to history books and museum displays.

Fortunately, large asteroid
strikes are very rare,

but smaller ones can still be dangerous.

Along with other organizations
across the world,

ESA is working hard to
identify and track them.

- We currently have a detection
rate of something like

200 asteroids per month,
and maybe 3, 4, 5 of them

are objects which might hit the earth.

So, currently we have 740
objects where we don't know

if they will hit the earth of not.

There's none which is
really a serious threat,

which we currently know of.

There's plenty of things out there

which we have not yet detected,

which we are still searching for,

but from what we know right now,

there's nothing which we
have to really worry about.

What we have already seen,

is if a 20 meter object would approach,

that was the case five
years ago in Chely, Binsk,

when a 20 meter object
exploded over a city in Russia,

and 1,500 people went to hospital

because they were close to a window,

they were hit by fragments,
and they were not aware,

nobody knew that this object would come.

And this is what we could
improve in the future,

that our telescope would detect this

a week maybe in advance.

ESA's new Fly Eye telescope

will conduct automated
nightly sky surveys.

It works by splitting the image
into 16 smaller sub images,

greatly expanding the field of view.

- We planned our Fly Eye telescope,

and easily we can scan
the sky within 48 hours,

so whenever an object

bigger than 10-15 meters would approach,

we should be able to see it beforehand,

and then we would pass this
information to the authorities.

- Currently, the first Fly Eye telescope

is foreseen to be placed in
Sicily near the.

There are other free
telescope for seeing the frame

of the the NASA project,

and there are many advantages

in it for identical telescopes,

both placed in northern
and southern hemisphere.

The coverage of the both hemisphere

is due to geometric
reasons in order to cover

the full celestial sphere.

Then considering that a
telescope needs a clear sky

for observation, doubling
the number of telescope

allow us to compensate in case
of bad weather conditions.

ESA's Fly Eye telescope

will improve our chances of detecting

these potentially dangerous objects,

while the asteroid missions
will increase our knowledge

of asteroids and look at ways
of protecting our planet.

The telescope was designed and built

by a consortium of companies

from Italy, Poland, and Romania.

- The Fly Eye telescope is
based on novel and regional

optical architecture, that
makes, as the name says,

the eye of the insects.

In fact, it is composed by

16 independent, single telescopes

that share a common primary mirror.

This way we can join together
different optical features

that are difficult to combine together

in a single telescope.

And every single optical
channel, every single telescope

that composes the Fly Eye telescope

is provided with a focal plane,

which already provides
a large field of view.

The combination of the 16 field of views,

creates a very huge field of view.

In fact, we have for each single telescope

2.75 square degrees of field of view.

That multiplied by 16 gives
the 44 feet field of view

of the overall instrument.

This is very important due to the fact

that with such a large field of view,

you can map large ares
of the sky very quickly,

and you can, this way,
scan the full visible sky

at least three times per night.

A typical observation of the telescope

is about 40 to 60 seconds exposure time.

During this time, of course,

the structure must be very
stiff in order to avoid

the vibration that could blur the image

and diminish the
possibility of the telescope

to look for faint objects.

And this is very important
from the optical point of view,

due to the fact that all the performances

that are collected
together in the telescope

must be maintained also from
a mechanical point of view.

- Fly Eye telescope, due
to its large field of view

and also the capability
to quick scan the sky,

allow to arrive up to three

complete scanning of the sky per night.

This feature allow to implement
what we call wide survey,

what exist today is what
is called the deep survey.

So specific observation
of an asteroid very far.

But today we think we are the first,

we are offering a service
to cover all of the world.

Because we can inform the
population with a week in advance

that an asteroid can hit to the earth,

so we can protect the population.

This instrument can detect
an object like a tennis ball

at an orbit 1000 kilometer

moving at 10 kilometer per second.

After 10 detections, we
can calculate the orbit

to with an accuracy of
20 meter along a track.

So an important feature,

and we can implement
aerial cooperative way,

between aerial and optical.

ESA is currently working

on a set of space safety
and security activities,

which focus on threats,
such as space weather,

artificial debris, and asteroids.

By enhancing the existing

space situational awareness program,

these will help us better
understand the risks

to our planet and prevent disaster.

- Searching for asteroids and
mitigating the risk of impact,

while at the same time

collaborating with international partners,

that's how I see how ESA can contribute

to fulfill UN sustainable
development goals.

All going
well, the Hyabusa 2 sample

will land in the Australian
outback sometime in 2020.

OSIRUS REx will follow with
a sample for return in 2023.