#expected asteroid

TOKYO | Japan delays spacecraft landing on very rocky asteroid

TOKYO— Japan’s space agency is delaying a spacecraft touchdown on an asteroid because scientists need more time to find a safe landing site on the extremely rocky surface.

The spacecraft Hayabusa2 left Earth in 2014 and traveled 280 million kilometers (170 million miles) to the area of asteroid Ryugu, which it reached in June.

The Japan AerospaceExploration Agency plans to attempt three brief…