[meteorite-list] Hayabusa Project Team Proposes Names for Asteroid Itokawa Features

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Sep 22 12:36:25 2005
Message-ID: <200509221635.j8MGZ5V11405_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.isas.ac.jp/e/snews/2005/0922_itokawa.shtml

Proposal of the names of representative terrain on Itokawa
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
September 22, 2005

[Itokawa Image]

The IAU guideline says that terrain larger than about 100 meters shall
have the names of gods, internationally well known places with
significance to be approved. Hayabusa project team proposes following
names for the major features on Itokawa. Smaller terrain will be given
names based on the nicknames referred to by the Joint Science Team
analysts.

Proposed names and the reasons:

Muses Sea : is the smooth terrain and stands for 'MUSES-C', the project
code of Hayabusa, at the same time, named after the expanse where the
Greek goddesses Muses are.

Uchinoura Bay : is a potential crater on Itokawa, named after the mother
port (launch site) of Hayabusa in Kyushu island, Japan.

Woomera Desert : is also a potential large crater on Itokawa, named
after the intended recovery area of Hayabusa-carried capsule with
sample, Woomera Prohibited Area (WPA) in Australia, the return port of
Hayabusa.
Received on Thu 22 Sep 2005 12:35:03 PM PDT