Japanese Spacecraft Snaps Earth Fly-By Pics | Video

JAXA’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft flew by Earth on Dec. 3rd, 2015 to pick up momentum for its asteroid Ryugu sample return mission. At nearest approach it was about 1864 miles (3000km) above the Pacific Ocean. It’s scheduled to reach its target in 2018 and return a sample to Earth in 2020. -- Watch the Hayabusa2 launch and learn more about the mission: Credit: JAXA