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Old November 23rd 05, 07:08 PM posted to alt.astronomy
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Default Japanese probe - Hayabusa had touched down on asteroid itokawa afterall

Japanese probe - Hayabusa had touched down on asteroid itokawa afterall


A Japanese spacecraft successfully touched down on an asteroid as part
of a landmark mission but failed to drop equipment to collect samples,
Japan's space agency said Wednesday. The Japan Aerospace Exploration
Agency (JAXA) had previously said that the attempted landing on Sunday
failed after the Hayabusa space probe suffered a glitch and was unable
to confirm its altitude.

However, the agency said in an update that the spacecraft in fact
managed to touch down on the bean-shaped Itokawa asteroid located 290
million kilometers (180 million miles) from Earth for about 30 minutes,

Kyodo News reported.

It was the first landing by a Japanese space vehicle on an astronomic
object, the agency said. JAXA will decide Thursday whether to make a
second attempt to land Hayabusa. Although the body of the probe has not

suffered any major damage, some of its censors need to be checked, the
agency said.

Clear Skies & Happy Planet Hunting !

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