MASCOT Rover deployed from Hayabusa 2 onto Ryugu 2018

The massively successful Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Hayabusa 2 deployed one of its four rovers, Mobile Asteroid Surface Scout (MASCOT) onto the surface of asteroid Ryugu, October 3, 2018.  The German Aerospace Center (DLR) developed MASCOT in cooperation with National Centre for Space Studies in France.  It weights only about 21 lbs and is about 11.6"x10.8"x7.7".  It ran for about 16 hours on a non-rechargeable battery and completed its mission successfully.  

Three papers have been published discussing the results from MASCOT in Nature Astronomy, Science, and Journal of Geophysical Research.

Arthur C Clarke, science fiction author, born 1917

Arthur C. Clarke, born December 16, 1917 in Somerset, England, was a science writer, inventor, undersea explorer, and one of the most influential science fiction writers of all time.  He wrote the screenplay for 2001: A Space Odyssey, one of the best science fiction films ever, for which he garnered an Academy Award nomination.  He won three Hugo Awards and three Nebula Awards for his works. 

He was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 1994 and was knighted in 2000.  By that time, his health had deteriorated to the point that he could not travel to London from Sri Lanka where he resided until his death in 2008.

The Arthur C. Clarke Award for science fiction writing is an annual award in England.