Bringing Back a Piece of Heavenhttp://spectrum.ieee.org/aerospace/robotic-exploration/bringing-back-a-piece-of-heavenBY JAMES OBERG // MARCH 2010 23 March 2010—A small, severely damaged spacecraft named Hayabusa is limping back to Earth with a jury-rigged ion drive that would have made Star Trek’ s Scotty proud. Already seven years into its planned five-year mission to retrieve soil samples from an asteroid, the probe faces one last round of hazards before its midnight landing in Australia sometime in June with a sample canister.
Quote from: JimO on 03/24/2010 03:45 AMBringing Back a Piece of Heavenhttp://spectrum.ieee.org/aerospace/robotic-exploration/bringing-back-a-piece-of-heavenBY JAMES OBERG // MARCH 2010 23 March 2010—A small, severely damaged spacecraft named Hayabusa is limping back to Earth with a jury-rigged ion drive that would have made Star Trek’ s Scotty proud. Already seven years into its planned five-year mission to retrieve soil samples from an asteroid, the probe faces one last round of hazards before its midnight landing in Australia sometime in June with a sample canister.I really hope it works.
Kyodo: Japanese Spacecraft, Returning From Asteroid, To Land in Australia0840 GMT // Apr 21, 2010http://home.kyodo.co.jp/modules/fstStory/i...?storyid=496932The story quotes the Australian Defence ministry to reveal that:"The probe, launched by the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) in 2003 with the task of collecting samples from the asteroid Itokawa, will land in the Woomera Prohibited Area, in southwestern Australia."source:Japanese spacecraft to land at Australia's Woomera range in JuneAustralian Department of Defence web site in English 21 Apr 10http://www.minister.defence.gov.au/Faulkne...CurrentId=10170
http://www.jaxa.jp/press/2010/04/20100421_hayabusa_e.htmlReturn of Sample Recovery Capsule aboard Asteroid Explorer "HAYABUSA"April 21, 2010 (JST)Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) would like to announce that it was issued the Authorized Return of Overseas Launch Space Object (AROLSO) for the Sample Recovery Capsule aboard the Asteroid Explorer "HAYABUSA" from the Space Licensing and Safety Office (SLASO) of the Australian Government on Friday, April 16th.The capsule is scheduled to return to the Earth in June 2010. According to the latest information, the capsule will reenter into the atmosphere at around 11:00 p.m. on June 13th, 2010, (Japan Standard Time, or 14:00 UTC* on the day) at the Woomera Prohibited Area in South Australia.The "HAYABUSA" project team continues to carefully operate the spacecraft ahead of the reentry, and will release any updated information to the public whenever it becomes available.http://twitter.com/Hayabusa_JAXAA special website in English for Hayabusa's return has been launched today! (delta-V): http://bit.ly/90hSUFWe also restarted a blog for the return of Hayabusa. You can read my today's entry in English here: http://bit.ly/c7QToy (delta-V)