SPACE.com:
Launched in 2003, the Japanese space probe
Hayabusa may become the first spacecraft to visit an
asteroid and return samples to Earth. Despite a damaging solar
flare, the failure of one of its gyros, and other mishaps, the
probe landed on asteroid Itokawa on 25 November 2005 and is
believed to have retrieved a sample. If all goes to schedule, a
reentry capsule will detach from the probe and land in the
Australian outback on 13 June. Besides the samples,
Hayabusa collected images, IR spectra, and other
data.
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SPACE.com:
Launched in 2003, the Japanese space probe
Hayabusa may become the first spacecraft to visit an
asteroid and return samples to Earth. Despite a damaging solar
flare, the failure of one of its gyros, and other mishaps, the
probe landed on asteroid Itokawa on 25 November 2005 and is
believed to have retrieved a sample. If all goes to schedule, a
reentry capsule will detach from the probe and land in the
Australian outback on 13 June. Besides the samples,
Hayabusa collected images, IR spectra, and other
data.
![]()
Japanese asteroid-sampling spacecraft returning to Earth in June Free
23 April 2010
SPACE.com:
Launched in 2003, the Japanese space probe
Hayabusa may become the first spacecraft to visit an
asteroid and return samples to Earth. Despite a damaging solar
flare, the failure of one of its gyros, and other mishaps, the
probe landed on asteroid Itokawa on 25 November 2005 and is
believed to have retrieved a sample. If all goes to schedule, a
reentry capsule will detach from the probe and land in the
Australian outback on 13 June. Besides the samples,
Hayabusa collected images, IR spectra, and other
data.