JAXA

Blogs about the Japanese space agency.

The samples collected by the Hayabusa 2 space probe on two different occasions from the first and second selected sites on asteroid Ryugu.

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An article published in the journal “Nature Astronomy” reports the discovery of the five nucleobases that form DNA and RNA—adenine, guanine, cytosine, thymine, and uracil—in samples brought back to Earth from asteroid Ryugu. A team of researchers analyzed two of the samples taken by JAXA’s Hayabusa 2 space probe during its mission. The five nucleobases were found in both samples. Just over a year ago, the detection of the five nucleobases in samples brought back from the asteroid Bennu by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx space probe was announced. This provides further confirmation of the presence of life’s building blocks on asteroids, and it’s possible that they seeded the primordial Earth.

The Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft recovered at the end of its Crew-11 mission (Image NASA)

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A little while ago, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft completed its Crew-11, or SpaceX Crew-11, mission for NASA with a successful splashdown. Aboard were astronauts Zena Cardman, Michael Fincke, and Kimiya Yui, and cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, who had arrived at the International Space Station on August 2, 2025, as part of Expedition 73/74. The Crew-11 members ended SpaceX’s 11th regular crewed mission in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of California. The Crew Dragon had left the Station approximately 11 hours earlier.

The Crew-11 mission ended a few weeks early in what was described as a medical evacuation due to a medical condition affecting one of the crew members. For privacy reasons, no details were released, starting from the identity of the person who’s suffering the health issue.

The HTV-X1 cargo spacecraft approaching the International Space Station (Image courtesy JAXA)

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A little while ago, the HTV-X1 spacecraft was captured by the International Space Station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm, operated by astronaut Kimiya Yui. The Japanese space cargo ship, which blasted off when it was Sunday in Japan, carries a huge amount of supplies and experiments. After its capture, they started the slow moving of the HTV-X1 to its berthing location on the Harmony module, where it will be safely installed.

The HTV-X1 cargo spacecraft blasting off atop a H3-24W rocket (Photo courtesy JAXA)

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A few hours ago, the HTV-X1 spacecraft blasted off atop a H3-24W rocket from the Tanegashima space center in Japan for a resupply mission to the International Space Station. A little more than 14 minutes after the launch, the cargo spacecraft separated regularly from the rocket’s last stage, entered its preliminary orbit, and deployed its solar panels and navigation antennas. It’s the new Japanese cargo spacecraft HTV-X’s maiden launch.

The Crew Dragon Endurance spacecraft after splashing down at the end of its Crew-10 mission (Image NASA+)

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A little while ago, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Endurance spacecraft completed its Crew-10, or SpaceX Crew-10, mission for NASA with a successful splashdown. Aboard were astronauts Anne McClain, Nichole Ayers, and Takuya Onishi, and cosmonaut Kirill Peskov, who had arrived at the International Space Station on March 16, 2025, as part of Expedition 72/73. The Crew-10 members completed SpaceX’s 10th regular crewed mission in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of California. The Crew Dragon had left the Station approximately 17.5 hours earlier.