Posted on 06/13/2010 7:10:44 AM PDT by mgstarr
A Japanese space probe which scientists hope will bring back a sample from an asteroid is due to return to Earth on schedule late on Sunday in the Australian outback, an Australian defense official said.
The Hayabusa probe is due to land around 11.30 p.m. (1400 GMT) near the Woomera military range in the remote desert north of South Australia state.
[snip]
The return will mark the end of a seven-year journey that has taken the probe to the near-Earth asteroid Itokawa and back. It landed on the asteroid twice in 2005 and scientists hope it may have captured a small sample from its surface.
If successful, it would be the first time a spacecraft has returned with samples from an asteroid or planet other than Earth's moon.
The probe was launched in 2003 by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), which said on Saturday Hayabusa -- which means "falcon" in Japanese -- was functioning well after completing its final manoeuvre earlier this month.
Itokawa is an irregularly shaped asteroid which measures just over 500 meters at its longest.
Scientists hope the probe will give them information about the formation of asteroids. The mission has also been a test for new technology which could be used to return other space samples to Earth in the future.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
Cool! This sounds like the start of a most excellent sci-fi / monster movie.
exactly
If you are fortunate enough to get into the website:
http://sgqtss.arc.nasa.gov:554/dc8-current.sdp
Curtesy of Jack Hydrazine from an earlier post.
It’s been a remarkable journey for Hayabusa.
Good job Japan!
well good luck. Space travel FTW
Boomeranging Japanese Space Probe to Land in Australian Outback
 |
||
| · join · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post new topic · subscribe · | ||
| Google news searches: exoplanet · exosolar · extrasolar · | ||
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.