The robots are the world’s first man-made objects to explore movement on an asteroid’s surfaceA pair of Japanese robot rovers have made the first successful landing on an asteroid. The Minerva-II1 rovers reached the surface of Ryugu, a distant asteroid, a day after they were released from the Hayabusa2 probe, Japan’s space agency announced yesterday. “The two rovers are in good condition and are transmitting images and data,” the space agency said. “Analysis of this information confirmed that at least one of the rovers is moving on the asteroid surface.”The view from RyuguThe agency said the robots — round and biscuit tin-shaped — are the world’s first man-made objects to explore movement on an asteroid’s surface. Because of the asteroid’s low gravity, the rovers can jump as high as 15m (50ft) from…

Source: The Times September 23, 2018 11:24 UTC