Last week, Japan’s space agency (JAXA) made history, after landing a rover on the surface of an asteroid for the first time.
The Hayabusa-2 rover is currently sat on the Ryugu asteroid – a 1km-wide space rock that resides around 170 million miles from Earth.
Today, the rover has sent back incredible images from the surface of Ryugu.
On Twitter , JAXA said: “Our MINERVA-II1 rovers have sent back more images from the surface of Ryugu!” followed by a series of images and short videos.
The images show the rocky landscape of the asteroid, with a stunning backdrop of the Solar System.
They were snapped Rover 1A and Rover 1B – Hayabusa-2’s resident robots.
The tiny robots weigh just 1kg each, and are equipped with wide-angle lenses and stereo cameras.
Amazingly, the robots are autonomous, and can move around the asteroid by hopping.
During their time on the asteroid, the robots will carry out a range of tasks, including measuring surface temperatures.
Hayabusa2 is also scheduled to attempt three brief touch-and-go landings on the asteroid to collect samples.
JAXA hopes that the mission will provide clues to the origin of the solar system.
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