Japan Has Attempted To Land Two Tiny Rovers On a Distant Asteroid (arstechnica.com)

On Friday, Japan's Hayabusa2 spacecraft attempted to deploy two miniature rovers on an asteroid that it's been orbiting since mid-August. Ars Technica reports: Each weighed only about a kilogram, and after separating from the main spacecraft they approached the asteroid named Ryugu. Japanese mission scientists think the rovers touched down successfully, but are not completely sure. Communication with the two landers stopped near the moment of touchdown. This is presumably because Ryugu's rotation took the rovers out of view from the Hayabusa2 spacecraft, but scientists won't know for sure until later Friday (or Saturday morning, in Japan) when they attempt to download images from the rovers. And thus we are left with a suspenseful situation.

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Still No Word

[mentil]

It's Saturday morning in the USA now, and it still hasn't been announced if they made it. When they spend this many hours not announcing success, that usually means there was a problem. Their Twitter feed talks about the Hayabusa2 returning to its normal distance, but says nothing of the rovers.