---
title: "Japan Lobs Bomb to Blow Hole in Asteroid… For Science"
description: "The bombing won't be an act of space vandalism. Japan's goal is to blow a 10-meter-wide crater in Ryugu in order to see what it looks like on the inside."
date: "2019-04-05"
modified: "2019-04-05"
authors:
  - name: "Jon Christian"
    job_title: "Executive Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/japan-bomb-asteroid-science"
categories:
  - "Science & Energy"
tags:
  - "Japan"
  - "JAXA"
  - "ryugu"
  - "the digest"
---

# Japan Lobs Bomb to Blow Hole in Asteroid… For Science

![The bombing isn't an act of space vandalism. The goal is to blow a 10-meter crater in asteroid in order to see what it looks like on the inside.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/japan-bomb-asteroid-science.png>)
*\<em\>Image: Go Miyazaki/JAXA\</em\>*

## Bomb Squad

Japan's Hayabusa-2 probe keeps attacking the asteroid Ryugu with a vengeance.

First it [shot the hapless asteroid](<https://futurism.com/ryugu-asteroid-hayabusa2-shoot>) with a bullet, and then Japan's space agency, JAXA, [announced a plan](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/japan-plan-bomb-asteroid>) to have the probe blow a hole in Ryugu with plastic explosives — a scheme it put into motion on Friday, [according to the *New York Times*](<https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/04/science/hayabusa2-ryugu-crater.html>), by dropping the bomb and kicking up dust on the surface, "suggesting that the blast had gone off as intended."

## Bruce Ryugis

The bombing wasn't be an act of space vandalism. The idea is to blow a 10-meter-wide crater in Ryugu in order to see what it looks like on the inside, [according to the ](<https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-47818460>)*BBC* — instead of the surface, which has been bombarded by cosmic radiation for untold millions of years.

Hayabusa-2 dropped the explosive payload from a height of about 500 meters — and then hid on the other side of Ryugu to avoid flying debris.

**READ MORE:** [For Deeper Insights, Japanese Space Mission Bombed an Asteroid to Make a Crater](<https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/04/science/hayabusa2-ryugu-crater.html>) \[*The New York Times*\]

**More on asteroids:** *[NASA Shocked by “Plumes Erupting From an Asteroid’s Surface”](<https://futurism.com/nasa-plumes-erupting-asteroid-surface>)*

## Author
I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/jonchristian.net>)