Posted: Tue, Sep 13, 2005, 7:47 AM ET (1147 GMT)
A Japanese spacecraft has now moved to within 20 kilometers of its target asteroid, the Japanese space agency JAXA said Monday. Hayabusa is now 20 kilometers from the near Earth asteroid Itokawa. The spacecraft will maintain its position from the asteroid, mapping the asteroid, for the next two weeks before closing to within 7 km of the surface by the end of the month. Hayabusa is scheduled to touch down on the surface of the asteroid in early November and collect samples of the asteroid before departing on a trajectory that will bring the spacecraft back to Earth in 2007. If successful Hayabusa (originally known as MUSES-C) will be the first spacecraft mission ever to return asteroid samples to Earth.
