WHAT COMES NEXT?

The missions in the pipeline to other asteroids, which will build on Dawn’s legacy

Hayabusa2

The Hayabusa2 spacecraft was launched in 2014 by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) in order to study the asteroid Ryugu. It arrived in late June and will stay for 18 months. During this time its operators will land a small probe and three miniature rovers, while the main spacecraft takes samples to return to Earth. The mission will depart from Ryugu in December 2019, arriving home in 2020.

OSIRIS-REx

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx launched on September 8, 2016 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, and will travel to near-Earth asteroid Bennu. On 17 August 2018 the spacecraft will be able to take its first photograph of Bennu from a distance of 1.9 million km, before arriving at its destination on 3 December. The craft will then survey the space rock before returning to Earth with its asteroid samples in 2023.

Lucy

NASA’s Lucy mission will perform the first close-up investigation of the Trojans, a population of primitive asteroids orbiting close to Jupiter. The Trojans are remnants of the primordial material that formed the outer planets, and they hold vital clues to understanding the history of the Solar System. Lucy will launch in 2021 and fly by six Trojans and one main belt asteroid between 2025 and 2033.

Psyche

NASA’s Psyche mission will study a unique target: a 210km-wide metallic asteroid, the only known object of its kind in the Solar System. It’s thought to be the exposed core of a planet that was destroyed before it had finished forming thus giving astronomers a window into planetary cores, which are usually hidden from view. Psyche is scheduled to launch in October 2023 and arrive at the asteroid in 2030.