On September 22, 2018 a pair of "MINERVA-II 1" automated robots touched down on asteroid Ryugu after separating from Japanese “Hayabusa-2” space probe, sending back pictures as the probes bounced across the asteroid’s alien landscape nearly 200 million kilometers from Earth. The small rovers were released from the “Hayabusa-2” probe as the spacecraft descended about 55 meters from Ryugu. It was the first landing on an asteroid.