Hayabusa2 Flies Past Earth on Its Way to Asteroid Ryugu...

JAXA

Hayabusa 2 Earth Swing-by (Press Release)

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) performed an Earth swing-by operation of the Asteroid Explorer Hayabusa 2 on the night of December 3 (Thursday), 2015 (Japan Standard Time). The Hayabusa 2 flew closest to the Earth at 7:08 p.m. (JST) and passed over the Pacific Ocean around the Hawaiian islands at an altitude of about 3,090 kilometers (1,920 miles).

After its closest flight to the Earth, we have confirmed the good health of the Hayabusa 2 through operations supported by the NASA Deep Space Network stations.

The Hayabusa 2 project team is currently measuring and calculating the post-swing-by orbit. It will take about a week to confirm if the explorer entered the target orbit. We will report the result once it is determined.

Source: Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency