Japanese probing robot may have failed to land on asteroid

Japanese probing robot may have failed to land on asteroid

A small probing robot released by a Japanese space probe toward an
asteroid orbiting the sun between Earth and Mars may have failed to
land and has likely drifted away from the asteroid, Yomiuri Shimbun
reported Sunday.

The probe, named Hayabusa, released the robot called Minerva toward
the asteroid Itokawa at 3:24 p.m. (0624 GMT) Saturday as part of a
rehearsal for its own planned descents later this month, the major
Japanese daily said.

It was the first attempt by Japan to send equipment to an
astronomic object outside Earth. A rehearsal initially held on Nov.4
before deploying Minerva was aborted due to technical problems.

If there are no problems with Hayabusa, the agency will go ahead
with its first touchdown on Itokawa as scheduled for Nov. 19 to collect
rock samples in the world's first attempt to gather samples from the
surface of an asteroid, the newspaper said.

The can-shaped Minerva -- with a diameter of about 12 centimeters
and a height of 10 cm, weighing less than 600 grams and equipped with
three small cameras -- was expected to hop around the asteroid and send
data, such as surface temperatures and images, back to Earth via
Hayabusa.

Clear Skies & Happy Planet Hunting !

Alay Pankaj Jhaveri, Astronomer
B-23,Satellite Apartments,Jodhpur Road,Ahmedabad-380015,Gujarat,India.
Tel: 91-79-50040855, 91-9376110855