Corey Cush left , senior enlisted leader for the 42nd Infantry Division, and Maj. Steven Ferrari right , commanding general for the 42nd Infantry Division, case the division's colors during a transfer of authority ceremony held recently in the CENTCOM area of responsibility.

The division was responsible for leading U. From March to November , the task force commanded almost 10, U.

Army Soldiers deployed to U. Army Central's operations area. Their mission helped to provide command and control in the Middle East while increasing military preparedness and capabilities and strengthening partnerships in the region.

The task force deterred major regional aggression through the support of an armored brigade combat team ABCT , theater engineer brigade TEB , field artillery brigade FAB , aviation task forces, and a theater explosive ordnance disposal EOD battalion.

In addition to its combat support and deterrence mission, Task Force Spartan served as United States Army Central Command's main effort to protect joint forces during the coronavirus pandemic.

Amid increasing hostilities and pandemic constraints, the division Soldiers never faltered in their missions to protect and project combat forces.

Corey Cush, 42nd Infantry Division, senior enlisted adviser. Cush also said that although this is something the division never trained for, every Soldier took ownership of the mission and performed magnificently.

The division also conducted numerous training exercises, maintaining a lethal and ready force to deter regional aggression and strengthening relationships with U.

Despite the coronavirus pandemic, the division maintained engagements with partner nations. The units supporting the task force routinely conducted multilateral and military-to-military exercises with partner nation forces in the region.

These exercises varied from testing command-post capabilities to side-by-side maneuvers. The fact that such a diverse group across all Army components, services, agencies, international partners and civilians, all with multiple command relationships, can work as a team toward one common objective is a testament in itself, he stated.

Ferrari also stressed to the Soldiers of Task Force Spartan, "know that your efforts and sacrifices are truly appreciated by these proud nations who we call our friends and partner nations.

Let's hope these partnerships continue to be strong and flourish. Mission managers said said just 0. For Hayabusa2, it is not the end of the mission it started in It is now heading to a small asteroid called KY26 on a journey slated to take 10 years - one way - for possible research, including finding ways to prevent meteorites from hitting Earth.

So far, its mission has been fully successful. The craft touched down twice on Ryugu despite the asteroid's extremely rocky surface, and successfully collected data and samples during the 18 months it spent near Ryugu after arriving there in June In its first touchdown in February , it collected surface dust samples.

In a more challenging mission in July that year, Hayabusa2 collected underground samples from the asteroid for the first time in space history after landing in a crater that it created earlier by blasting the asteroid's surface.

Asteroids, which orbit the sun but are much smaller than planets, are among the oldest objects in the solar system and therefore may help explain how Earth evolved.

In Japanese, Ryugu means 'Dragon Palace', the name of a castle at the bottom of the sea in a traditional folk tale. After releasing its precious cargo, Hayabusa2 will begin a second, year mission to rendezvous in July with a much smaller asteroid known as KY Astronomer Brad Tucker said advancing technology had allowed space missions to regularly land on objects in space and return back to Earth.

Just this week China successfully landed a spacecraft on the moon's surface with its Chang'e-5 probe to collect two kilograms of lunar material to help scientists learn more about the moon's origins.

An artistic illustration the Hayabusa2 spacecraft's rendezvous with the asteroid Ryugu. The mission visited a previously unexplored area known as Oceanus Procellarum or 'Ocean of Storms'.

Dr Tucker said such missions were allowing scientists to 'get our hands dirty and learn a lot about the solar system and our own planet'.

Home Contact. Hayabusa2 capsule carrying samples from distant asteroid lands in Australia six years after taking off in bid to find clues to the origin of the solar system.

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