asteroid Itokawa surface



At last the operation went without failure. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s space probe was successful. The Hayabusa spaceprobe has snatched samples from the asteroid Itokawa, according to JAXA. At 0707 Japanese time (2207 GMT Friday), the six-meter probe touched down the asteroid and its computer system shot a metal ball into Itokawa to drive up material for collection. After its successful operation the craft took off again informs JAXA official Yasunori Matoba. But, only after the craft’s two billion kilometers journey back to the Earth in 2007, the Hayabusa team will know for sure whether it picked up surface material! And if it’s found to be the surface material, it will be the first time samples taken from an asteroid. It will be a welcome success for a mission obstructed and hampered by misfortune.



Via: The Guardian, New Scientist