Hayabusa asteroid-sample capsule recovered in Outback

ASTEROID 25143 ITOKAWA - A 'PILE OF RUBBLE'

Hayabusa returned astonishing images from its encounter with Itokawa.


The 500m-long Itokawa has many boulders covering its surface. The biggest is 50m wide; it is nicknamed 'Yoshinodai'. Observations revealed Itokawa's density to be extremely low. Scientists say it is a pile of rubble that was produced in a collision/ Gravity would have collected the debris into the object we now see.

The Japanese space capsule which landed in the Australian Outback on Sunday night (local time) has been recovered.

The Hayabusa pod was picked up by a helicopter team and transferred to a control centre on the Woomera Prohibited Area.

The canister, which is believed to hold the first samples ever grabbed from the surface of an asteroid, will now be shipped to Tokyo.

The Japanese space agency (Jaxa) says the capsule looks to be intact.

The return was the culmination of a remarkable seven-year adventure, which saw Hayabusa visit asteroid Itokawa in 2005 and attempt to pluck dust from its surface before firing its engines for home.

The $200m mission encountered many technical problems, from being hit by a solar flare to experiencing propulsion glitches. But each time an issue came up, the Japanese project team found an elegant solution to keep Hayabusa alive and bring it back to Earth - albeit three years late.

The re-entry on Sunday, at 1351 GMT, produced a spectacular fireball in the Australian night sky.

The main spacecraft broke apart in a shower of light.

As these bright streaks faded, a single point could then be seen racing to the ground. This was the capsule protected against the 3,000-degree heat generated in the fall by its carbon shield.

It took about an hour to locate the capsule by helicopter, its position tracked by radar and a beacon that was transmitting from inside the canister.

It was only when daylight came up on Monday, however, that a recovery team began to approach the 40cm-wide pod which was lying on the ground still attached to its parachute....

via BBC News - Hayabusa asteroid-sample capsule recovered in Outback.