Hayabusa return delayed
Posted: Wed, Dec 14, 2005, 8:23 AM ET (1323 GMT)
Japan's Hayabusa space probe will delay its return to Earth by three years because of ongoing thruster problems with the spacecraft. Hayabusa, still in the vicinity of the asteroid Itokawa, needs to fire its main engine by mid-December in order to enter a trajectory that will bring the spacecraft back to Earth in mid-2007. However, continued thruster problems have hampered normal operations, and JAXA officials said Wednesday that they are rescheduling the spacecraft's return. That change will keep the spacecraft from returning to Earth until mid-2010, assuming that spacecraft operations return to normal. Hayabusa is designed to return to Earth carrying samples of the asteroid's surface, but project officials said last week there is no guarantee the spacecraft collected any, because a pellet used to kick up samples from the surface apparently did not fire.
Japan's Hayabusa space probe will delay its return to Earth by three years because of ongoing thruster problems with the spacecraft. Hayabusa, still in the vicinity of the asteroid Itokawa, needs to fire its main engine by mid-December in order to enter a trajectory that will bring the spacecraft back to Earth in mid-2007. However, continued thruster problems have hampered normal operations, and JAXA officials said Wednesday that they are rescheduling the spacecraft's return. That change will keep the spacecraft from returning to Earth until mid-2010, assuming that spacecraft operations return to normal. Hayabusa is designed to return to Earth carrying samples of the asteroid's surface, but project officials said last week there is no guarantee the spacecraft collected any, because a pellet used to kick up samples from the surface apparently did not fire.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
Thales and Airbus to build next-generation radar imaging satellites
Posted: Sat, Jun 13 10:02 AM ET (1402 GMT) |
|
news links
|
|
Thursday, June 18
ESA Studies Doubling Ariane 6 Flight Cadence
Aviation Week — 5:21 am ET (0921 GMT) Northrop Grumman to Advance Military’s Protected Satellite Communications
Northrop Grumman — 5:20 am ET (0920 GMT) Two Offices Face a Shaky Future in U.S. Space Force Acquisition Overhaul
Aviation Week — 5:20 am ET (0920 GMT) Eutelsat Secures First Order Under French Defense Agreement
ViaSatellite — 5:20 am ET (0920 GMT) Blue Origin Says It Will Launch a New Glenn Rocket This Year
Bloomberg News — 5:16 am ET (0916 GMT) |
