Deep space exploration technology demonstrator（DESTINY⁺）Project

About 40,000 metric tons of cosmic dust is brought to the Earth each year. As dust includes more organic materials than meteorites, it could have brought organic matters to the early Earth as prebiotic seeds for terrestrial life. To understand the nature and origin of cosmic dust, PERC is jointly working with JAXA for DESTINY+ mission, which is planned to be launched in 2024. DESTINY+ will flyby with asteroid Phaethon, which is a parent body of Geminid meteor shower, conducting imaging of the asteroid surface and dust analyses in interplanetary space. PERC is responsible for leading the science mission and developing cameras and dust analyzer.