A camera onboard the Hayabusa sent this image of the reason for its problems.
Posted on 11/26/2005 7:44:38 PM PST by ncountylee
TOKYO (AP) -- A Japanese spacecraft showed signs of trouble Saturday after apparently landing on an asteroid and collecting surface samples in an unprecedented mission to bring the extraterrestrial material back to Earth, officials said.
The Hayabusa probe, hovering about three miles from the asteroid, appeared to be shaking due to a possible gas leak from a thruster, said Atsushi Akoh, a spokesman for Japan's space agency, JAXA.
JAXA will put Hayabusa into "safety mode" - which stabilizes the probe by turning its solar panels toward the sun - for two to three days to investigate, Akoh said.
Communications between the probe and the control center near Tokyo were stable, he said.
JAXA announced earlier Saturday that Hayabusa appeared to have touched down for a few seconds on the asteroid about 180 million miles from Earth, collecting powder from its surface before lifting off again to transmit data to mission controllers.
"The process of sampling also seems to have gone very well," said another JAXA spokesman, Kiyotaka Yashiro.
(Excerpt) Read more at hosted.ap.org ...
They got a gas leak after only 180 million miles? They shoulda launched a Toyota.
PING
Leni
If it was an oil leak, we would know it was built in England.
"If it was an oil leak, we would know it was built in England."
Ditto if it were an electrical problem...
The sushi onboard is starting to rot.
A camera onboard the Hayabusa sent this image of the reason for its problems.
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