Hayabusa Mission Topic

[EarthlingX]

SDC : How Japan's Hayabusa Asteroid Mission Worked

By SPACE.com Staff

posted: 11 June 2010
01:21 pm ET

Japan's Hayabusa asteroid probe launched in 2003 on an ambitious mission to sample a nearby asteroid and return those samples to Earth a few years later, but some things went wrong along the way – adding a full three extra years onto the hard-luck probe's mission. This graphic shows the long and winding road of Japan's Hayabusa mission to visit and sample the asteroid Itokawa.

 

[EarthlingX]

SDC : 5 Reasons to Care About Asteroids

By Karen Rowan
Life's Little Mysteries Managing Editor
posted: 11 June 2010
06:36 pm ET



On Sunday, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is planning to bring the Hayabusa probe down to Earth in Australia, hopefully bringing bits of an asteroid down with it.

The probe visited asteroid 25143 Itokawa in 2005 and attempted to collect samples of dust and pebbles from the rock. Because of glitches during the sample collection, scientists are unsure exactly what they will find when they open Hayabusa's sealed sampling chamber.

But if successful, this will mark the first time asteroid samples are returned to Earth for analysis.

SDC : Asteroid Probe to Light Up Sky Over Australia

By Joe Rao
SPACE.com Skywatching Columnist
posted: 03:15 pm ET

A Japanese spacecraft that visited an asteroid in 2005 is returning to Earth this weekend and should put on a brief, but spectacular, light show for fortuitously placed Australians late on Sunday.

The Hayabusa probe was launched by the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) on May 9, 2003 and rendezvoused with the Itokawa asteroid on September 12, 2005. [Photos of Japan's asteroid mission.]

Now it is set to land back on Earth, hopefully with asteroid bits in tow.

 

[the_harper]

JAXA has posted a small update on Hayabusa. Everything is apparently going well.

http://www.jaxa.jp/press/2010/06/201006 ... usa_e.html

 

[EarthlingX]

JAXA has posted a small update on Hayabusa. Everything is apparently going well.

http://www.jaxa.jp/press/2010/06/20100612_hayabusa_e.html

Asteroid Explorer "HAYABUSA"(MUSES-C)
Capsule reentry plan

June 12, 2010 (JST)

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) assessed the trajectory of Hayabusa and confirmed that it was nominal.
JAXA will implement the capsule reentry plan.

Hayabusa system is going well.

The following are main capsule reentry plans.

* Around 6/13 19:51(JST) : Capsule separation
* Around 6/13 22:51(JST) : Capsule reentry

 

[EarthlingX]

www.planetary.org : Preparing for Hayabusa's return

By Emily Lakdawalla

Jun. 11, 2010 | 16:10 PDT | 23:10 UTC

EDIT 07:23 PDT Jun 12: I've added a bunch of links to video feeds below. Also I confirmed the reentry time is at 13:51 UT, with landing of the capsule under its parachute about 20 minutes later.

Only about 40 hours remain for the Hayabusa mission. Its dramatic entry will take place at 14:00 UTC on Sunday, June 13; this is 7:00 a.m. my time. I will do my best to follow the events as they happen, but I also have to get some sleep. So I think I will plan to set my alarm for 4:00 Sunday morning. I'm choosing that time because three hours before landing is when the sample capsule is supposed to separate. Hopefully I can wake up, stumble out of bed, and find out something about whether that happened successfully, and then get up to speed on any other news that may have been released as I slept.

 

[Testing]

Thankyou Sir

 

[EarthlingX]

Something, while you wait, just in case if anyone missed it, of course

SDC : Space Probe, Perhaps with a Chunk of Asteroid, Returns to Earth Sunday

By Leonard David
SPACE.com’s Space Insider Columnist
posted: 13 June 2010
12:42 am ET

A Japanese space capsule perhaps carrying the first ever sample from an asteroid is on track for a Sunday parachute landing in South Australia.

The Hayabusa spacecraft is on-target, nearing completion of a seven year round-trip sojourn to asteroid Itokawa - a $200 million technology demonstration mission undertaken by the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

Ground teams in Australia are in final preparation, gearing up for the Hayabusa return, said Paul Abell, a planetary scientist from NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston and a member of the Hayabusa Science Team and one of four individuals on a contingency ground recovery team.

An outline of the Hayabusa probe's trajectory guidance based on the latest trajectory plan. Credit: JAXA

news.bbc.co.uk : Japan Itokawa asteroid mission set for re-entry

Page last updated at 23:34 GMT, Saturday, 12 June 2010 00:34 UK
By Jonathan Amos
Science correspondent, BBC News

Japan's Hayabusa probe returns to Earth on Sunday, releasing a capsule into the atmosphere that scientists hope will contain samples from asteroid Itokawa.

If the 40cm-wide conical disc survives the blistering heat of the descent and can deploy a parachute, it should touch down in Australia at about 1400 GMT

The container will be delivered to Jaxa's Sagamihara curation facility for analysis. It could be some months before scientists are able to say with confidence that Hayabusa did indeed capture fragments of Itokawa.

Professor Trevor Ireland, from the Australian National University, who will get to work on the samples, said no rocks on Earth could provide this information because they had been recycled many times.

"If we look at anything on Earth it has been put through the wringer; it's been messed up by plate-tectonic processes and geochemical processes. So if we want to look at what our Earth was made of, we have to leave Earth. That's the importance of Hayabusa and going to Itokawa."

http://airborne.seti.org/hayabusa/

June 12, 2010 - This afternoon, participants Jim Albers and Alan Cassell (photo) were working hard to process the latest post TCM-4 trajectory updates, which put the ground track a little further south. Star charts were prepared to help the researchers find the approaching Hayabusa in the sky. In the evening, we did our dry-run to Woomera, following the same flight path as we will follow tomorrow night. From our perspective,we expect to see Hayabusa first towards the constellation of Coma Berenices,a nice background of stars to help our targeting. It was incredible to see the constellation this evening, and know that this is where JAXA's Hayabusa will emerge tomorrow.

Sky map :
http://www.fourmilab.ch/yoursky/


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMNJ18pWKW4[/youtube]

Click here to view DC8 aircraft position in Google Earth (kml file)

http://www.reuters.com : Japanese space probe to land in Australian outback

Sun Jun 13, 2010 1:28am EDT
(Reuters) - 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.

A spokesman for Australia's defense ministry said an initial party would fly out to find the 500 kg Hayabusa probe once instruments confirmed it had landed.

Among the first people to see it on its return will be local Aboriginal elders, who will fly out in a helicopter to check it has not damaged any sites sacred to the local indigenous people.

Stretches of central Australia's main north-south Stuart Highway will be closed for the probe's return, which will happen at blistering speed. Parachutes will slow it down after the probe jettisons a heat shield that will protect it during re-entry.

 

[3488]

Live streaming video of Hayabusa Capsule return.

Apparently images were to be taken of Earth by the mother craft during the final few hours of approach, mostly of Japan & eastern Asia.

Capsule seperation has occured successfully & on time @ 10:51 HRS UTC / GMT (11:51 HRS CET / BST) .

Andrew Brown.

 

[EarthlingX]

Stream is alive, but that's all i can see, except maybe that all screens are green, if that means anything ? ..

Some more local news, with viewing advice and such :

www.abc.net.au Spacecraft on track to land in outback

Updated 3 hours 29 minutes ago

Scientists say tonight's world-first space landing in South Australia's outback should create a spectacular fireball.

Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa is due to re-enter the earth's atmosphere around midnight (AEST).

Lindsay Campbell from the Woomera Test Range says safety precautions will include closing airspace, a section of the Stuart Highway and halting the Ghan Railway.

He suggests people watching for a fireball look out for the re-entry of the return capsule, followed a few minutes later by the entry and burn-up of the spacecraft itself.

"JAXA and NASA have confirmed that the actual trajectory of the spacecraft is absolutely spot on," he said.

"We've cleared the area underneath where it's coming in so we certainly have full confidence that everything is going to be perfectly safe."

The capsule will be retrieved by helicopter, for air-freighting by jet to ground control at Sagamihara, west of Tokyo, where it will be x-rayed, analysed and finally opened by scientists from Japan, Australia and the US.

- ABC/AFP

 

[EarthlingX]

Live streaming video of Hayabusa Capsule return.

Apparently images were to be taken of Earth by the mother craft during the final few hours of approach, mostly of Japan & eastern Asia.

Capsule seperation has occured successfully & on time @ 10:51 HRS UTC / GMT (11:51 HRS CET / BST) .

Andrew Brown.

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1006/13capsulesep/

The separation occurred at 1051 GMT (6:51 a.m. EDT) about 25,000 miles above Earth, according to an update posted on the mission's official Twitter account.

Landing at the Woomera Prohibited Area in South Australia should occur around 1411 GMT (10:11 a.m. EDT), or 11:41 p.m. local time.

Emily Lakdawalla has images of applause at separation at her Twitter page :
http://twitpic.com/1wfmhw

 

[3488]

Hayabusa Mothercraft re-entry.

Andrew Brown.

 

[the_harper]

Thanks for the images! Is that the capsule or Hayabusa itself?

 

[3488]

Hi the_harper,

It's the mother craft as much larger with no heatshield.

Hi everyone,

+++++++++++++++++++HOT NEWS+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Capsule has landed successfully, parachute, heatshield etc worked perfectly, capsule looks intact. :mrgreen:

Andrew Brown.

 

[3488]

Video of Hayabusa entry.

Andrew Brown.

 

[the_harper]

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/7634995

Some very excited Japanese saying how beautiful it is.

 

[the_harper]

Capsule has landed successfully, parachute, heatshield etc worked perfectly, capsule looks intact. :mrgreen:

Andrew Brown.

Where'd you get that, Andrew? :shock:

 

[3488]

Hi the_harper,

The BBC & Emily Lakdawalla mentioned it. The capsule made a pinpoint, perfect landing in Australia. Tracking beacons confirmed the successful descent & the capsule made a very soft landing. Apparently, the capsule is intact.

Eye witness account.

Andrew Brown.

 

[3488]

Now on YouTube. Wonder how long that would take?? Not long. :mrgreen:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPUxTSPN_bQ[/youtube]

Andrew Brown.

 

[MeteorWayne]

Also in Emily's blog is:

And here's an amazing shot from Yomiuri Shimbun, a Japanese newspaper:

A future APOD for sure!!

 

[3488]

Image of Earth from Hayabusa during the final approach. Sunday 13th June 2010.

Can see Egypt, the Arabian Peninsula & Iran.

Andrew Brown.

 

[3488]

Hayabusa Earth image processed by Unmanned Spaceflight.com member Gordan Ugarkovic. I was going to have a go myself, might still try if I can be bothered now after this excellent enhancement. :shock:

Andrew Brown.

 

[orionrider]

Thank you Andrew, this is excellent news

And congratulations to the JAXA crew and all who contributed to this tremendous success! :mrgreen:
Even if the capsule is empty, the emptiness will still be the first to come back from an asteroid, if you see what I mean...

 

[3488]

Hayabusa mothercraft entry from the NASA DC8 at high altitude. WOW. The entry capsule is the tiny dot ahead.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-Xp_-_gLTA[/youtube]

A few screen dumps.

Entry capsule after the dustruction of the Hayabusa mothercraft.

Andrew Brown.

 

[3488]

JAXA are currently searching for the heat shield from the Hayabusa return capsule.

The capsule itself is fine & will be recovered in a few hours.

Andrew Brown.

 

[EarthlingX]

www.jaxa.jp : Result of Capsule Search by Helicopter

June 14, 2010 (JST)

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)

After the Hayabusa capsule reentry, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) searched for the capsule by a helicopter and discovered it at the expected landing area in WPA, Australia at 11:56 p.m. on June 13th, 2010 (JST).
JAXA will start retrieving it in the afternoon on June 14th, 2010(JST).

*WPA Woomera Prohibited Area