The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has sent a probe millions of miles into space to attempt to land on the space rock dubbed “Ryugu”.
The Hayabusa2 ship is expected to reach the asteroid today.
And now conspiracists believe they are testing to see whether inhabiting the rock in the future is a possibility.
One channel, secureteam10, uploaded a video questioning whether the Japanese are hiding the truth.
secureteam10
BIZARRE: Could there be any truth in the claims?
“They will probably try to colonise it.”
YouTube viewer
Tyler Glockner, who runs the page, speculated that the space experts are up to something bigger than they’re letting off.
Since he uploaded the clip earlier today, it has already racked up more than 62,000 hits.
And viewers were quick to add their own opinions.
“It doesn’t look natural at all,” one viewer claimed.
Before another added: “They will probably try to colonise it.”
And a third stated: “The Japanese are up to something.”
Top Facts About Asteroids
Asteroids are small, rocky objects that orbit the Sun. The first asteroid was Ceres, discovered by Giuseppe Piazzi in 1801. There are currently over 600,000 known asteroids in our solar system. Most asteroids are found orbiting in the Asteroid Belt, a series of rings located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
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There are Millions of Asteroids in the solar system, usually found in the Asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, however those in that pass the Earth are called Near-Earth objects
Hayabusa2 left Earth on December 3, 2014, to study the asteroid as scientists believe it may contain trace amounts of primordial water and organic matter from the birth of our solar system.
Should these be found, it could help to answer questions about how life started on Earth.
Despite originally appearing round, Ryugu was found to be diamond-shaped.
Mission principal investigator Seiji Sugita said in a statement on Friday that their predictions on its structure have changed over time.
EPIC apocalyptic asteroid impact craters
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Eastern Russia’s Lake El’gygytgyn, which sits inside a small asteroid impact crater
He said: “As we approached Ryugu and were able to distinguish individual features in the asteroid’s topology, it became clear that Ryugu has a land of rich terrain.
“Numerous clusters of rock roll on the surface. Among these, a large rocky mass (about 150 meters [490 feet] across) stands out on the upper part of Ryugu due to its brighter colour.
“The belt-shaped ring of peaks that surround the equator are also slightly brighter than their surroundings.
“This colour difference may reflect a difference in material composition and the size of the particles that form the rock.
“We can also see many sunken regions that look like craters. These depressions may have been made in collisions with other celestial bodies. A structure that looks like a grove is also visible.”
