Japan Probe Lands on Itokawa Asteroid

[Hum]

TOKYO, Japan (AP) -- Japan's space agency said Wednesday its spacecraft had successfully touched down on an asteroid 180 million miles from Earth despite an earlier announcement that it had failed.

On Sunday, JAXA officials had said the Hayabusa probe, on a mission to land on the asteroid named Itokawa, collect material, then bring it back to Earth, failed to touch down after maneuvering within yards of the surface.

However, the agency said Wednesday that data confirmed that Hayabusa had landed on the surface Sunday for a half-hour, although it failed to collect material.

JAXA officials had said earlier that Hayabusa dropped a small object as a touchdown target from 130 feet above the asteroid and then descended to 56 feet from the surface, at which point ground control lost contact with the probe for about three hours.

But after analyzing data, the agency said the probe landed on the asteroid within about 99 feet of the initial landing target.

The agency officials were still analyzing the data and will decide by Thursday whether to conduct a second landing attempt Friday, according to Seiji Koyama, a spokesman for the space agency.

The asteroid is named after Hideo Itokawa, the father of rocket science in Japan, and is orbiting the sun between Earth and Mars. It is 2,300 feet long and 1,000 feet wide.

Examining asteroid samples is expected to help unlock secrets of how celestial bodies were formed because their surfaces are believed to have remained relatively unchanged over the eons, unlike those of larger bodies such the planets or moons, JAXA said.

source

[Hum]

TOKYO, Japan (AP) -- A Japanese space probe apparently succeeded in landing Saturday on an asteroid and collecting surface samples in an unprecedented mission to bring the extraterrestrial material back to Earth, but afterwards showed signs of trouble, Japan's space agency said.

The probe, now hovering about 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) from the asteroid, appeared to be shaking vertically due to problems with its thruster, according to spokesman Atsushi Akoh of Japan's space agency JAXA.

The agency would put the probe into "safety mode" to investigate, Akoh said.

The Hayabusa appeared to have touched down for a few seconds on the asteroid -- floating 290 million kilometers (180 million miles) from Earth -- to collect powder from its surface before lifting off again to transmit data to mission controllers, according to spokesman Kiyotaka Yashiro of Japan's space agency, JAXA.

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[Tungsten T]

Good Luck to all those people in MC.

[j.nudd]

It's still quite amazing that humans can make an object travel over 180,000 miles and still get it within 100 feet of where they want it... Science is truly amazing.

[gunnerhkjp]

Hopefully, it will bring back some interesting stuff, whatever it is.

Too bad it won't return to earth for another year.

[j.nudd]

I just noticed I made a rather glaring error in my post. Apparently, the prove travelled 180 million miles instead of 180 thousand miles... This just makes it more and more amazing.

[mAcOdIn Veteran]

I've always wondered about how they treat this stuff when it gets back. Is there any precautions taken when this stuff is brought back to Earth to ensure it's safe, maybe some kind of secure clean room incase it has a space plague or something?

[Hum]

I've always wondered about how they treat this stuff when it gets back.  Is there any precautions taken when this stuff is brought back to Earth to ensure it's safe, maybe some kind of secure clean room incase it has a space plague or something?

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I imagine they will keep it isolated in some sealed-off lab room, until they can test for anything harmful. Probably will send in some animal, watching for illness. Hard to believe any type of bacteria/virus would survive the Space radiation, but I suppose anything is possible.

Would be amusing if the descending capsule popped open and the dust spread thru the air. :laugh:

[gunnerhkjp]

I guess that's what so exciting about this. We REALLY do not know what we'll be getting.

Although it could just turn out to be an uninteresting rock.

I would hate to be the scientist that has to tell the tax payers "yeah its pretty much a common rock".

[vincent]

This is trully a wonderful feat, not only for the Japanese, but for humanity in general. This is what i love about human nature the instinct to explore, it is hardwired in us. We always wondered what was over the next hill, around the next corner, we conquered the sea and lands and now we keep an inpatient eye on Mars, from there it can only get better. :yes:

[mAcOdIn Veteran]

It is exciting and it is a great step for humanity and I agree it should be done no matter what one pereives the risks to be, after all a life without risks is a pretty dull life.

I asked the question however after hearing about this awhile ago. Turns out that Lichens can survive in space according to the ESA.

http://www.newscientistspace.com/article.ns?id=dn8297

pretty interesting stuff.

[gunnerhkjp]

It is exciting and it is a great step for humanity and I agree it should be done no matter what one pereives the risks to be, after all a life without risks is a pretty dull life.?

I asked the question however after hearing about this awhile ago.? Turns out that Lichens can survive in space according to the ESA.

http://www.newscientistspace.com/article.ns?id=dn8297

pretty interesting stuff.

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Very Interesting read. Symbiotic relationship between an algae and fungi. Nice.:laugh:h:

The news paper was saying that we have collected surprisingly very little actual material from outer space. The only other rocks we have collected are from the moon by the US and the Russians.