DCAM-3 satellite

DCAM-3

Japan

Spacecraft nº:

Japanese spacecraft nº: 207B

Launched together with: Hayabusa 2 - DESPATCH - PROCYON - SCI

Prime manufacturer	Kagoshima University (Japan)
Platform
Operator
Mass at launch	14 kg vehicle with a 5 kg explosive
Dry Mass	kg
Basic shape
Dimension (m)
Equipment
Solar array
Stabilization
Propulsion
DC power
Design lifetime

At 0400 UTC on Apr 4, 2019 Haybusa 2 began another descent from its 20 km home point towards the surface of Ryugu. At an altitude of 500m, at 0156 UTC Apr 5, it ejected the SCI (Small Carry-On Impactor), a 14 kg vehicle with a 5 kg explosive shaped charge and a 2 kg copper mass. Hayabusa-2 then performed an avoidance burn to head off several km to the side of the asteroid, over the horizon from the SCI location.
At 0236 UTC the SCI detonated, propelling the copper payload into the asteroid with the intention of creating a new crater.
Early in this retreat, at 0214 UTC, it ejected the DCAM-3 camera package. DCAM-3 imaged this operation and relayed the data to the main spacecraft.
Hayabusa-2 will image Ryugu from a safe distance and search for the resulting crater, before returning to its 20 km home point on around Apr 20. The plan is to then make a further descent to sample the freshly exposed material in the new crater.