Japanese asteroid landing attempt fails
Posted: Sun, Nov 20, 2005, 10:27 AM ET (1527 GMT)
An attempt by a Japanese robotic spacecraft to land briefly on an asteroid apparently failed, although the cause of the failure remains unclear. The Hayabusa spacecraft was scheduled to touch down on the surface of the asteroid Itokawa on Saturday, remaining there just long enough to collect samples of the surface. However, telemetry radioed back to Earth from the spacecraft indicated it made it no closer than 17 meters to the surface before moving away. Officials with the Japanese space agency JAXA said they did not believe the spacecraft landed on the surface, but are unsure of what kept the spacecraft from landing, and if it will be possible to make another landing attempt. JAXA had planned to make two landings on the asteroid to collect samples for return to Earth. Hayabusa has suffered a number of problems during its mission, including the failure of reaction control wheels used for attitude control and an aborted landing rehearsal earlier this month. Hayabusa did perform the landing rehearsal last weekend, releasing a 600-gram probe intended to land on the surface, but a problem with the deployment kept the probe from reaching the surface.
An attempt by a Japanese robotic spacecraft to land briefly on an asteroid apparently failed, although the cause of the failure remains unclear. The Hayabusa spacecraft was scheduled to touch down on the surface of the asteroid Itokawa on Saturday, remaining there just long enough to collect samples of the surface. However, telemetry radioed back to Earth from the spacecraft indicated it made it no closer than 17 meters to the surface before moving away. Officials with the Japanese space agency JAXA said they did not believe the spacecraft landed on the surface, but are unsure of what kept the spacecraft from landing, and if it will be possible to make another landing attempt. JAXA had planned to make two landings on the asteroid to collect samples for return to Earth. Hayabusa has suffered a number of problems during its mission, including the failure of reaction control wheels used for attitude control and an aborted landing rehearsal earlier this month. Hayabusa did perform the landing rehearsal last weekend, releasing a 600-gram probe intended to land on the surface, but a problem with the deployment kept the probe from reaching the surface.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Thursday, May 1
New data from NASA’s Juno mission shows winds beneath Jupiter and Io surfaces
Cosmos Magazine — 6:11 am ET (1011 GMT) Shenzhou-19 astronauts arrive in Beijing
Xinhua — 6:09 am ET (1009 GMT) Exoplanet could be in a perpendicular orbit around two brown dwarfs
Physics World — 6:09 am ET (1009 GMT) U.S. Senate Commerce Committee advances Isaacman’s nomination for NASA administrator to full Senate
Spaceflight Now — 6:03 am ET (1003 GMT) Satellite launches on mission to "weigh" the world's 1.5 trillion trees
CBS — 6:03 am ET (1003 GMT) |
