live Hayabusa asteroid-sampler

The Japanese Hayabusa probe will attempt landing on
asteroid Itokawa tonight (friday 25.).

If succesful, it take a sample the surface and
fly it back to Earth for study.

Nothing like this has been done before.
The previous landing of Hayabusa worked, but it
didn't sample anything.

What is the nicest thing, is that There's a live
blog at the Japanese aerospace exploration agency,
JAXA.
http://www.isas.jaxa.jp/home/hayabusa-live/

I haven't seen this noted in the media, probably
because they want you to read their own releases
(circulated with delay from spx, ap and such news
agencies.)

It updates really quick. The current latest entry says:
As of 22:30 JST, the distance between shape center of
Itokawa and Hayabusa is approximately 1500 meters.
Due to the time delay between Hayabusa and Earth, the
displayed value is behind 40 minutes.

--
-meiza

meiza wrote:

The Japanese Hayabusa probe will attempt landing on
asteroid Itokawa tonight (friday 25.).

If succesful, it take a sample the surface and
fly it back to Earth for study.

Nothing like this has been done before.
The previous landing of Hayabusa worked, but it
didn't sample anything.

What is the nicest thing, is that There's a live
blog at the Japanese aerospace exploration agency,
JAXA.
http://www.isas.jaxa.jp/home/hayabusa-live/



Hey, is that good luck amulet legal under the 1945 peace treaty? ;-)
http://www.isas.jaxa.jp/home/nucleus...6-DSC06306.JPG
Sure hope it works, it's one neat mission.

Pat

meiza wrote:

The Japanese Hayabusa probe will attempt landing on
asteroid Itokawa tonight (friday 25.).



If you want to see a budget space program, take a gander at the mission
control center's model of Hayabusa:
http://www.isas.jaxa.jp/home/nucleus...5-DSC06308.JPG :-D

Pat

On Fri, 25 Nov 2005 09:29:26 -0600, Pat Flannery
wrote:

Hey, is that good luck amulet legal under the 1945 peace treaty? ;-)

....What got me was that it wasn't signed by at least a thousand women
and wrapped around the belly of the probe before it launched.

OM
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OMBlog - http://www.io.com/~o_m/omworld
Let's face it: Sometimes you *need*
an obnoxious opinion in your day!
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OM wrote:

On Fri, 25 Nov 2005 09:29:26 -0600, Pat Flannery
wrote:



Hey, is that good luck amulet legal under the 1945 peace treaty? ;-)



...What got me was that it wasn't signed by at least a thousand women
and wrapped around the belly of the probe before it launched.




"Hayabusa" means Peregrine Falcon BTW. How would I know that? You see
there was this Nakajima fighter plane...
If it hits the asteroid and is destroyed, they should rename it Ohka. ;-)

Pat

On Fri, 25 Nov 2005 16:23:52 +0200 (EET), wrote:

The Japanese Hayabusa probe will attempt landing on
asteroid Itokawa tonight (friday 25.).


What is the nicest thing, is that There's a live
blog at the Japanese aerospace exploration agency,
JAXA.
http://www.isas.jaxa.jp/home/hayabusa-live/



Japan probe lands on asteroid

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1347096

Nov 26, 2005 — TOKYO (Reuters) - A Japanese space probe made history
on Saturday when it landed on the surface of an asteroid and then
collected rock samples that could give clues to the origin of the
solar system.

The probe, called Hayabusa — Japanese for "falcon" — succeeded in the
delicate task which scientists have likened to landing a jumbo jet in
a moving Grand Canyon. It was its second and final attempt.

After analyzing data transmitted from the unmanned probe, the Japan
Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said Hayabusa had touched down on
the asteroid, nearly 300 million km (190 million miles) from Earth.

"I am delighted to hear that it has collected the samples. It is the
world's first such feat and it will contribute greatly to mankind's
exploration of space," Science and Technology Minister Iwao Matsuda
said in a statement.

Hayabusa has already sent back detailed images of the asteroid. In a
photograph published on JAXA Web site

On Fri, 25 Nov 2005 23:53:57 -0800, Rusty
wrote:

On Fri, 25 Nov 2005 16:23:52 +0200 (EET), wrote:

The Japanese Hayabusa probe will attempt landing on
asteroid Itokawa tonight (friday 25.).


What is the nicest thing, is that There's a live
blog at the Japanese aerospace exploration agency,
JAXA.
http://www.isas.jaxa.jp/home/hayabusa-live/



Japan probe lands on asteroid

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1347096

Nov 26, 2005 — TOKYO (Reuters) - A Japanese space probe made history
on Saturday when it landed on the surface of an asteroid and then
collected rock samples that could give clues to the origin of the
solar system.

The probe, called Hayabusa — Japanese for "falcon" — succeeded in the
delicate task which scientists have likened to landing a jumbo jet in
a moving Grand Canyon. It was its second and final attempt.

After analyzing data transmitted from the unmanned probe, the Japan
Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said Hayabusa had touched down on
the asteroid, nearly 300 million km (190 million miles) from Earth.

"I am delighted to hear that it has collected the samples. It is the
world's first such feat and it will contribute greatly to mankind's
exploration of space," Science and Technology Minister Iwao Matsuda
said in a statement.

Hayabusa has already sent back detailed images of the asteroid. In a
photograph published on JAXA Web site.

http://www.isas.jaxa.jp/e/snews/2005...hayabusa.shtml, the probe's
shadow can be made out on its surface.

Japan's space program has had a shaky record and has recently been
overshadowed by China's success in carrying out manned space flights —
something Japan has never attempted.

After a voyage of 2- years, Hayabusa on Sunday had touched down on the
surface of the 548 meter-long potato-shaped asteroid, named Itokawa,
marking the first landing by a Japanese spacecraft on an
extraterrestrial body.

It remained there for 30 minutes, but had failed to drop the equipment
for collecting surface material.

JAXA officials had said Saturday's attempt would be the final one as
Hayabusa did not have enough fuel for another attempt and would have
to head back to Earth.

The probe's capsule containing the samples is due to land in the
Australian outback in June 2007.

Asteroids are believed to contain rocks that have remained largely
unchanged since the early days of the solar system and could thus
offer valuable information about its origins.

Information about their structure could also be vital if an asteroid
were found to be on a collision course with the earth.

The asteroid is named after pioneering Japanese rocket scientist Hideo
Itokawa.

On Fri, 25 Nov 2005 23:53:57 -0800, Rusty
wrote:

The probe, called Hayabusa — Japanese for "falcon" — succeeded in the
delicate task which scientists have likened to landing a jumbo jet in
a moving Grand Canyon.

....*Please* don't give Al Queda any ideas, JAXA :-P

OM
--
]=========================================[
] OMBlog - http://www.io.com/~o_m/omworld [
] Let's face it: Sometimes you *need* [
] an obnoxious opinion in your day! [
]=========================================[

Omedetou gozaimasu (congratulations) to JAXA for apparently
pulling this off. It will be interesting to hear what is learned from
the returned samples. The photos of the asteroid have been
pretty amazing, too.

BTW, when/why did "Nasda" become "JAXA"??

Dale

Rusty wrote:



"I am delighted to hear that it has collected the samples. It is the
world's first such feat and it will contribute greatly to mankind's
exploration of space," Science and Technology Minister Iwao Matsuda
said in a statement.



Well, I'll be...they actually got this part of the mission to work-
they'll be bouncing off the walls over there if they can get the samples
back successfully.
Way to go, Japan!

Pat