Japanese scientists are preparing to do some scientific research on asteroids with a piece of equipment that sounds like it came from a science fiction film. According to a recent article published on Phys.org, the latest piece of equipment from the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is an impressive space probe designed to blast a massive hole in an asteroid for research purposes.

From the outside, the probe – which is christened with the Japanese word of “Hayabasa,” which translates to “falcon” in English – doesn’t look so out of the ordinary. Solar panels surround what looks like a satellite communication device, as well as the rest of the probe’s hardware. But according to reports from JAXA regarding their big plans for Hayabasa-2, the probe is half space exploration tool and half weapon.

Currently, the goal of JAXA is to use the probe to launch what Phys.org described as a “massive metal bullet” at the surface of an asteroid called 1999JU3. JAXA will launch the probe into space next year, piggybacked to one of its rockets, after which the probe will be flung into the approximate trajectory of the chosen asteroid. When Hayabasa-2 and 1999JU3 meet – an event expected to take place in 2018 – Hayabasa-2 will release the weapon and prepare to blast the hole.

The weapon will approach the surface of the asteroid while the probe clears the area to make way for the blast and to assure that it is not damaged by the metal bullet or the resulting debris. Once the hole has been made, the Hayabasa-2 will return to the sight of the blast to inspect the crater. After scooping up bits and pieces of the asteroid debris, the Hayabasa-2 will begin a two-year journey back to Earth, its scientific samples in tow.

While the JAXA plan is hardly elegant, it will allow for interesting scientific study if proven successful. The first Hayabasa probe was active from 2003 to 2010 as it traveled to another asteroid, but that probe was only able to collect surface dust. Many asteroids – 1999JU3 included – supposedly include within them the “building blocks of life,” but surface dust has often been so altered and contaminated by outside impurities that it offers little glimpse into the past for scientific experts. By blasting a hole in the asteroid and accessing its interior elements, the Japanese space agency will be able to learn markedly more than they did from the last Hayabasa experiment.