[meteorite-list] Hayabusa To Start Journey Home

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon Nov 28 15:36:33 2005
Message-ID: <200511282022.jASKMAU15295_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051128/ap_on_sc/japan_asteroid

Japanese Spacecraft to Start Journey Home
By HIROKO TABUCHI
Associated Press
November 28, 2005

TOKYO - A Japanese spacecraft on an unprecedented mission to bring
asteroid material back to Earth is set to start home despite showing
signs of trouble earlier, an executive of Japan's space agency, JAXA,
said Sunday.

On Saturday, the Hayabusa probe apparently landed on the Itokawa
asteroid and collected surface samples. After the landing, the probe
hovered about three miles from the asteroid and appeared to be shaking
due to a possible gas leak from a thruster, JAXA said.

The probe shut down all its engines Saturday and switched to solar power
while JAXA investigated the problem.

But the probe appears to be stabilizing, and JAXA plans to re-ignite its
engines by Dec. 10 for the return journey, JAXA executive Yasunori
Matogawa said.

"We will meet that deadline, whatever happens," Matogawa said.
Otherwise, it would be two more years before the probe - orbiting the
sun between Earth and Mars together with the asteroid - would be in the
right position to return, he said.

JAXA said the Hayabusa appeared to have touched down for a few seconds
on the asteroid about 180 million miles from Earth, collecting powder
from its surface and then lifting off again to transmit data to mission
controllers.

But the agency will not know for sure if Hayabusa collected surface
samples until it returns to Earth. It is expected to land in Australia's
Outback in June 2007, more than four years after its launch in May 2003.

If all goes well, it will be the first time a probe returns to Earth
with samples from an asteroid, according to JAXA. A NASA probe collected
data for two weeks from the asteroid Eros in 2001, but it did not return
to Earth.

The landing on the asteroid was Hayabusa's second, following a faulty
touchdown earlier this month. JAXA lost contact with the probe during
that attempt and did not even realize it had landed until days later ???
long after it had lifted off.

Scientists hope examining asteroid samples will help unlock the secrets
of how celestial bodies formed. Asteroid surfaces are believed to have
remained relatively unchanged over the eons, unlike larger bodies such
as planets and moons.

On top of recovering samples from the asteroid, the probe also is
testing a new type of ion engine that uses an electric field to
accelerate positive ions to a high velocity. JAXA hopes to use the
fuel-saving technology in missions farther into space, its Web site said.

The Hayabusa mission is part of Japan's efforts to expand its space
exploration program. Earlier this year, JAXA said it would send its
first astronauts into space and set up a base on the moon by 2025.

Associated Press writer Hiroko Tabuchi contributed to this report.
Received on Mon 28 Nov 2005 03:22:09 PM PST