Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Asteroid Sample Return Mission
(Image credit, JAEA)
Chances are if I said "Hayabusa" to you, you would have no idea what I was talking about (or think I was swearing at you). It's the name of the Japanese Asteroid Sample Return spacecraft. Hayabusa is an ambitious mission to land on the chondrite-type asteroid Itokawa and return with samples of the asteroids surface.
Hayabusa is also a well kept secret, while everyone has heard of Deep Impact, this craft is virtually unknown Yet it will actually bring back samples of pristine asteroidal material of incredible scientifc importance for the understanding of the formation of planetry systems. The probe has completed and Earth flyby (see this video) and now has aquired its first images of the target asteroid, in readyness for the landing in late September. If all goes well, the craft will return in 2007 and land in the Australian Outback.
# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 9:50 pm 
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