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June 14, 2010 (JST)
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
Following the discovery of HAYABUSA capsule, JAXA searched for the heat shield of the capsule by a helicopter, but has not found it so far.
JAXA will restart searching the heat shield this morning.
*WPA: Woomera Prohibited Area
June 14, 2010 Updated
Welcome back HAYABUSA to Earth after overcoming various difficulties!
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(Image: Earth image taken by Hayabusa)
The Asteroid Explorer "HAYABUSA" successfully separated its capsule at 7:51 p.m. on June 13 (Japan Standard Time, the following times and dates are all JST,) and re-entered the atmosphere to complete its mission operation at 10:51 p.m.
After the landing, a helicopter searched for the capsule in the Woomera Prohibited Area, and at around 11:56 p.m. on the 13th, its location was confirmed.
For about seven years since its launch by an M-V Launch Vehicle in May 2003, the HAYABUSA successfully completed a great achievement by landing on the asteroid "ITOKAWA," gathering rocks there, and returning to the Earth with them while overcoming various troubles.
3488":31usdjhi said:Great video of Hayabusa atmospheric entry, in Japanese though, but still stunning footage.
Andrew Brown.
We were discussing variations on the theme in a couple of threads, but can't exactly remember where .. I think it was when discussing Jupiter probes, or Mars, or was it in SB&T ? I'll chew on this for a bit and let you know, if no one else will. MeteorWayne might remember or 3488 ?mithridates":1x1llejd said:This gives me an idea. Considering how many asteroids WISE has discovered (12,000+ new asteroids so far), shouldn't it be fairly easy to find three or so good candidates for a mission involving a number of cheap probes launched at one time that carry out a simple flyby and then return to Earth? Each one would be constructed of a somewhat different material and all they would have to do is fly by and observe the asteroid they've been assigned to, and then make their way back and burn up.
June 14, 2010 (JST)
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has completed the retrieval of the Hayabusa capsule at 4:08 p.m. on June 14th, 2010 (JST).
The capsule is deemed intact at the moment.
Good thinking. It's probably just most practical preparation for the 'what if' scenarios, but i wouldn't mind knowing more about it, like what sort of contingency was that meant for.orionrider":1vipxvie said:Disarming pyro bolts probably :?:
June 14, 2010 (JST)
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
Asteroid Explorer "Hayabusa" was launched from Uchinoura Space Center, Kagoshima, Japan on May 9th, 2003, and touched down on the asteroid "Itokawa" in November 2005. After obtaining the asteroid's surface material, Hayabusa left for the Earth and finally, in early morning of June 13th, 2010, entered the Earth's atmosphere along with the re-entry capsule that the spacecraft detached beforehand. The capsule successfully landed in the Woomera Prohibited Area in South Australia, and was retrieved by JAXA at approximately 4:08 p.m. (JST) on June 14th, 2010.
It is a great pleasure to see Hayabusa successfully complete the 6 billion km journey, after meeting extreme difficulties that put the spacecraft on the verge of shut down numerous times. We, JAXA, would like to express our deepest gratitude to the Government of Australia, relevant people at the Woomera Prohibited Area, and NASA for their continued cooperation on the Hayabusa project. We would also like to thank the people of Japan and the world, Japanese government, and the media for their warm support and encouragement.
Retrieved capsule will be transported to JAXA Sagamihara Campus in Kanagawa, Japan. First, the sample container will be inspected, and then the content will be extracted for analysis. We hope to find the Itokawa's surface material in the capsule, and contribute to understanding the origin and evolution of the solar system.