[meteorite-list] Scientists Find Dust Inside Japan's Asteroid Capsule (Hayabusa)

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue, 6 Jul 2010 10:52:40 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <201007061752.o66HqeTS003286_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1007/06hayabusa/

Scientists find dust inside Japan's asteroid capsule
BY STEPHEN CLARK
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
July 6, 2010

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency announced Monday they found
particles inside the Hayabusa mission's capsule that was supposed to
scoop up a sample from the surface of asteroid Itokawa in 2005.

Officials say they don't know yet whether the particles are dust from
the asteroid, or if the material originated from Earth or interplanetary
space.

Hayabusa's return capsule parachuted back to Earth in the Australian
outback June 13, wrapping up a mission spanning seven years and
stretching four billion miles across the solar system. The mission
accomplished the first roundtrip journey to an asteroid.

The 16-inch-wide capsule returned unscathed, and recovery teams shipped
the craft back to Japan, where it arrived June 18 at a high-tech
curation facility in Sagamihara, near Tokyo.

An X-ray of the canister showed no signs of any particles larger than 1
millimeter, or about 1/25 of an inch, JAXA officials said in an earlier
statement.

Technicians also measured a trace gas coming from the capsule.

JAXA released confirmation of the dust particles Monday in an update
posted on the agency's Japanese language website. The discovery came
after scientists opened up the canister.

The dust could have come from asteroid Itokawa, interplanetary space, or
it could be contamination from Earth that was inside the container
before launch or after landing.

Only detailed analyses of the material will determine its source,
according to JAXA.

Officials say it could be months before scientists definitely prove
whether the samples were collected from the surface of Itokawa, a
potato-shaped rock slightly larger than a typical city block.

Researchers plan to use a microscope and spectrometer to gauge the size,
origin and chemical make-up of the samples.

Hayabusa was designed to gather samples using a gun-fired projectile to
blast chunks of rock into a funnel leading inside the collection
chamber, all while executing a touch-and-go landing.

But the system malfunctioned during two tries in November 2005. Hayabusa
unexpectedly landed on the asteroid for about 30 minutes on the first
attempt.

A second sampling run went more smoothly, but data-crunching engineers
said the bullet never fired, putting Hayabusa's primary science
objective in doubt.

Despite the mishap, mission managers remained hopeful some asteroid dust
migrated into the sample chamber as the probe bumped into its surface.
Received on Tue 06 Jul 2010 01:52:40 PM PDT