Japan unveils asteroid hunting space probe

Coming soon: An illustration of Hayabusa-2 and an asteroid in space. - AFP

TOKYO: Japanese space scientists have unveiled the asteroid hunting space probe they hope to launch later this year on a mission to mine a celestial body.

The probe named Hayabusa-2 is expected to be flung into space on a rocket for a mammoth four-year voyage to the unpoetically named 1999JU3 asteroid.