Hayabusa is sure to have succeeded in asteroid sampling! (Forwarded)

Institute of Space and Astronautical Science
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
Sagamihara City, Japan

2005/11/26

Hayabusa is sure to have succeeded in asteroid sampling!

It found the Target Marker with 880,000 names!

On Nov. 26, spacecraft "Hayabusa" challenged the second trial to execute
landing on and sampling from the asteroid "Itokawa". "Hayabusa" team
confirmed the whole process to have been implemented, and is sure that the
team succeeded in sampling materials on the surface of an asteroid for the
first time in world history. Detailed data to be sent from "Hayabusa" will
further verify the sampling.

"Hayabusa" started its last descent phase from the altitude of 1 km above
Itokawa by command from earth around 10:00 p.m. Nov.25 (JST [1300 UTC]).
It was followed by starting the vertical descent from around 6:00 a.m.
Nov.26 [2100 UTC Nov. 25], and, around 6:25 a.m. [2125 UTC Nov. 25],
Sagamihara Deep Space Control Room sent a command to continue the descent.
"Hayabusa" challenged landing and sampling operation after a hovering
phase. "Hayabusa" team is now sure, through the analysis of telemetry
data, that a series of sequence for sampling was successfully done.
"Hayabusa" then flew up to several kilometers altitude with normal solar
paddles power, spacecraft attitude, etc.

The spacecraft shifted to safe-hold mode because of its attitude
dispersion during ascent, and Sagamihara Deep Space Control Room is now
carrying out the recovery operation to three-axis control mode. It
therefore takes a few more days to obtain detailed data relating the
procedure. Instruments onboard are functioning very well.

Spacecraft "Hayabusa" could find, on the surface of Itokawa, the Target
Marker dropped Nov.20 among the images taken during descent phase on Nov.
26. On the Target Marker are etched 880,000 names from 149 countries.

Left hand side image shows the area named "MUSES Sea" taken at 4:58 a.m.
Nov. 20 [1958 UTC Nov. 19], and right hand side image was taken at 6:24
a.m. Nov. 26 [2124 UTC Nov. 25]. A white light spot inside a red circle is
the Target Marker with 880,000 names of the people.

[NOTE: Images supporting this release are available at
http://www.isas.jaxa.jp/e/snews/2005...hayabusa.shtml ]