Watch a movie made by a robot--on the surface of an asteroid

It was taken by Rover 1-B, one of two Japanese rovers currently hopping around on the surface of the asteroid Ryugu. The duo detached from the Hayabusa-2 spacecraft last week and quickly began sending back mesmerizing images of the asteroid's stony surface. The solar-powered rovers are small, just seven inches across and less than three inches tall, but they contain cameras and temperature sensors to give astronomers back home their best look so far at a C-type (carbon-rich) asteroid. The bots move autonomously, activating an internal motor that sends them just high enough to glide about 50 feet in 15 minutes. The hopping mechanism is carefully calibrated--Ryugu's low gravity means that a more powerful jump could send them soaring straight off into space.