---
title: "New Image Shows Aftermath of Japan’s Asteroid Bomb"
description: "Japan's asteroid bomb created a crater much larger than expected, leading scientists to wonder if there's something they don't know about the asteroid."
date: "2019-04-25"
modified: "2019-04-25"
authors:
  - name: "Kristin Houser"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/kristin.md"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/japans-asteroid-bomb-artificial-crater"
categories:
  - "Science & Energy"
tags:
  - "asteroid"
  - "hayabusa2"
  - "ryugu"
  - "the digest"
---

# New Image Shows Aftermath of Japan’s Asteroid Bomb

![Japan's asteroid bomb created a crater much larger than expected, leading scientists to wonder if there's something they don't know about the asteroid.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/japans-asteroid-bomb-artificial-crater.png>)
*\<em\>Image: JAXA\</em\>*

## Big Blast

On April 4, a Japanese spacecraft [launched a plastic explosive](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/japan-releases-video-asteroid-bombing.md>) at an asteroid, then headed for the other side of the rock to avoid flying debris from the impact.

This week, the craft returned to the scene of the crime to check out the [aftermath of the mission](<https://phys.org/news/2019-04-japan-artificial-crater-asteroid.html>). As it turns out, the projectile packed more of a punch than expected — a development scientists believe could lead to a better understanding of the asteroid's composition.

https://twitter.com/haya2_jaxa/status/1121351488456908800?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

## New Understanding

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) [expected](<http://global.jaxa.jp/projects/sat/hayabusa2/pdf/sat33_fs_23_en.pdf>) its Hayabusa2 spacecraft to create an artificial crater about 2 to 3 meters (6.5 to 10 feet) in diameter on the surface of the Ryugu asteroid. However, based on images collected by the probe over the past two days, the crater appears to be about 10 meters (32.8 feet) wide.

"The surface is filled with boulders but yet we created a crater this big," Kobe University professor Masahiko Arakawa, who was involved with the project, said, according to [an *AFP* report](<https://phys.org/news/2019-04-japan-artificial-crater-asteroid.html>). "This could mean there's a scientific mechanism we don't know or something special about Ryugu's materials."

**READ MORE:** [Japan creates first artificial crater on asteroid](<https://phys.org/news/2019-04-japan-artificial-crater-asteroid.html>) \[*Phys.org*\]

**More on Hayabusa2:** *[Japan Releases Video of Its Spacecraft Bombing an Asteroid](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/japan-releases-video-asteroid-bombing.md>)*

### Author social links  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinjhouser>)

## More

- [Japan Releases Video of Its Spacecraft Bombing an Asteroid](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/japan-releases-video-asteroid-bombing.md>)
- [Here Are the First Photos Japan’s Robot Landers Sent Back From an Asteroid](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/ryugu-robots-asteroid-images.md>)
- [Watch a Japanese Spacecraft Grab Rock Samples From Tiny Asteroid](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/watch-japanese-spacecraft-grab-rock-asteroid.md>)
- [Japan Just Landed a Robot Spacecraft on an Asteroid](<https://futurism.com/hayabusa2-asteroid-ryugu-collect-samples.md>)
- [New Video Shows Japanese Probe Shooting Asteroid With Bullet](<https://futurism.com/ryugu-asteroid-hayabusa2-shoot.md>)
- [Japan Announces Plan to Bomb Asteroid](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/japan-plan-bomb-asteroid.md>)
- [A Japanese Spacecraft Is About to Shoot an Asteroid With a Bullet](<https://futurism.com/japanese-spacecraft-hayabusa2-bullet-asteroid.md>)
- [Japan Lobs Bomb to Blow Hole in Asteroid… For Science](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/japan-bomb-asteroid-science.md>)