Japan space probe drops hopping rovers towards asteroid

A Japanese space probe Friday released a pair of exploring rovers towards an oddly-shaped asteroid to collect mineral samples that may shed light on the origin of the solar system. If the mission is successful, the rovers will conduct the world's first moving, robotic observation of an asteroid surface. A Japanese space probe Friday released a pair of exploring rovers towards an oddly-shaped asteroid to collect mineral samples that may shed light on the origin of the solar system. The rovers will use the low gravity environment to hop on the asteroid's surface Taking advantage of the asteroid's low gravity, they will jump around on the surface -- soaring as high as 15 metres (49 feet) and staying in the air for as long as 15 minutes -- to survey the asteroid's physical features with cameras and sensors. So far so good, but JAXA must wait for the Hayabusa2 probe to send data from the rovers to Earth in a day or two to assess whether the release has been a success, officials said.