[meteorite-list] Hayabusa (MUSES-C) Flying Smoothly

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:28:22 2004
Message-ID: <200310070144.SAA05430_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.isas.ac.jp/e/snews/2003/0917.shtml

"Hayabusa" Flying Smoothly and Ion Engines Reached 1,000 Operation Hours!
JAXA
September 17, 2003

The 20th scientific satellite "Hayabusa (MUSES-C)" launched on May
9, 2003, continues to fly smoothly. As of September 12, 2003, it is
cruising at distance 52 million km behind from earth. This distance
is equivalent to 140 times the distance between earth and moon.

The three onboard ion engines are also operating smoothly. The three
engines reached 1,000 operation hours between September 1 and 12
respectively. The remaining one engine is standby as a backup after
completing verification of its initial functions.

"Hayabusa" will implement the earth swingby in May or June, 2004.
Then, it will depart bound for the asteroid, targeting arrival in
summer, 2005.
Received on Mon 06 Oct 2003 09:44:18 PM PDT