* Astronomy

Blobrana · L

RE: HAYABUSA (MUSES-C) mission

Blobrana · L

In 2003, a rocket was launched from Japan carrying the space probe Hayabusa.
Its destination was 25143 Itokawa, an asteroid whose orbital eccentricity around the sun sometimes takes it beyond the orbit of Mars and places it closer to the sun than our own planet.
In the telemetry system aboard Hayabusa were some cable assemblies made in Stroudsburg by MegaPhase LLC, a stark contrast to the craze years ago when so many manufactured items were imported from Japan. The goal of the mission was to return a sample of the asteroid. Hayabusa did not reach 25143 Itokawa until 2005 and came home with tiny fragments in June 2010.
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Blobrana · L

Nothing seen in Hayabusa's 2nd chamber

The second compartment of a canister returned to Earth by the Hayabusa space probe has been opened, but no visible material from the asteroid the probe landed on in 2005 was found, according to the national space agency.
However, further investigations of the second compartment will be conducted with a microscope, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said Monday.
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Blobrana · L

More particles found in space probe container

Hundreds more particles have been found inside a container in a capsule from Japan's Hayabusa unmanned space probe, which returned from the asteroid Itokawa in June, the national space agency said Monday.
The particles measuring up to about 0.1 millimetre, larger than those found so far in the container, will be analysed to confirm whether they are minerals from the asteroid, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said.
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Blobrana · L

Program error caused space probe's failure to shoot ball at asteroid

An error in a computer program sent from the ground caused Japan's Hayabusa unmanned space probe to fail to shoot a metal ball at the asteroid Itokawa to collect rock samples from it, according to the results of a study by the national space agency obtained Monday.
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Blobrana · L

Japanese spacecraft captured dust from asteroid

A Japanese spacecraft that returned to Earth in June successfully captured dust from an asteroid for the first time in history, scientists said Tuesday.
JAXA, the Japanese space agency, said an analysis of samples brought back by the Hayabusa spacecraft showed some came from an asteroid called Itokawa, which could offer insight into the creation and makeup of the solar system. It is only the fourth set of samples to be returned from space in history - including moon matter collected by the Apollo missions, comet material by Stardust, and solar matter from the Genesis mission.
The spacecraft's capsule landed successfully in the Australian Outback in June after a seven-year, 6 billion-kilometre journey, despite a series of technical glitches that threatened the mission.
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Blobrana · L

In 1970, a rock taken from the moon was exhibited at the US pavilion at the Osaka World Expo. It evoked a massive response from the public. Forty years later, in June 2010, the space probe Hayabusa returned from the Itokawa asteroid.
Minute particles were found in a sample canister aboard the probe. Just like the stone from the moon, these particles may not be of this Earth and if displayed, they likely will trigger a similar response.
In June, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa) started research to find out whether the particles come from sand from the Itokawa asteroid.
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Blobrana · L

Crowds flock to see Hayabusa asteroid probe capsule

Crowds flocked to the Sagamihara City Museum on July 30, as a sample capsule released by the Hayabusa asteroid probe on its return to Earth was unveiled there for the first time to the public.
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Blobrana · L

Hayabusa capsule particles may be from asteroid

A canister recovered from the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid and return to Earth, contains dust particles, say Japanese scientists.
Japan's space agency (Jaxa) began to open the Hayabusa craft's sample container on 24 June.
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Blobrana · L

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has released photographs of fine particles found in a sample capsule released by the Hayabusa asteroid probe on its return to Earth.
If the particles are from the near-Earth asteroid Itokawa, it will be the first time in human history that materials from an asteroid have ever been collected and brought home.
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