[meteorite-list] Japan's Next Asteroid Probe Approved For Developement (Hayabusa 2)

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon, 30 Jan 2012 09:48:11 -0800 (PST)
Message-ID: <201201301748.q0UHmCFV012281_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1201/29hayabusa2/

Japan's next asteroid probe approved for development
BY STEPHEN CLARK
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
January 29, 2012

Japanese government officials last weeek gave the green light to
Hayabusa 2, a robotic explorer due for launch in 2014 on a journey to
retrieve and return rocks from a near-Earth asteroid.

The Space Activities Commission, a board governing funding for the
Japanese space program, formally approved the Hayabusa 2 mission last
week. The decision came after a 2010 ruling that directed the Japan
Aerospace Exploration Agency to continue preliminary design of the probe.

Launch of Hayabusa 2 must occur in 2014 to reach asteroid 1999 JU3, the
mission's 3,000-foot-diameter target. Asteroid 1999 JU3, which is still
awaiting a name, is a C-type body, the most common form of asteroid in
the solar system. Observations by telescopes on Earth indicate the
asteroid is roughly spherical and has dark features.

The probe would reach the asteroid in mid-2018 and depart in December
2019. Landing on Earth is expected at the end of 2020, according to JAXA.

Japan is working on a tight schedule and budget to develop the
spacecraft in time for the narrow launch window, which is timed for when
the asteroid is in the right position relative to Earth. JAXA officials
say a back-up launch opportunity exists in 2015, but the mission would
have to wait a decade longer to get off the ground if the probe misses
the secondary window.

The project will receive $39 million in the Japanese fiscal year
beginning April 1, according to documents released by the Space
Activities Commission.

JAXA previously reported the Hayabusa 2 mission's total cost will be
more than $200 million.

NEC Corp. of Tokyo announced Jan. 25 it was beginning system design of
the 1,300-pound spacecraft, its Ka-band communications system and an
intermediate infrared camera. NEC was the builder of the Hayabusa probe,
which blasted off in 2003 and returned to Earth with microscopic
asteroid samples in 2010.

Hayabusa's sample-collection device malfunctioned, and the craft was
crippled by a fuel leak and failures of reaction wheels. But the probe
limped back to Earth with an ion propulsion system, jettisoning a
canister that parachuted to a soft landing in Australia.

Inside the capsule, researchers found tiny particles of material from
asteroid Itokawa, a potato-shaped rock about the size of a city block.
The initial research shows the samples inspected contain no organic
molecules. Scientists also say the analysis confirms the rocks at
Itokawa were formed 4.6 billion years ago at the dawn of the solar system.

Hayabusa 2 will attempt to correct the flaws that hampered Hayabusa's
voyage, according to JAXA.

The next mission will feature more durable ion engines, upgraded
guidance and navigation technology to ensure a smooth landing on
asteroid 1999 JU3, and new antennas and attitude control systems.

Hayabusa 2's sample collection method is also being revamped after
problems during Hayabusa's approach to Itokawa in late 2005.

Instead of firing a high-speed kinetic projectile at close range into
the asteroid, as Hayabusa was supposed to do, Hayabusa 2 will drop an
impactor about 1,000 feet from the surface. After descending slowly, the
impactor will detonate once it reaches the asteroid, scattering bits of
rock and exposing subsurface material.

Once the dust settles, Hayabusa 2 will approach the impact site and
collect rocks with a horn leading into a sample holding chamber. If all
goes according to plan, the mission should return a more sizable cache
of samples than Hayabusa.
Received on Mon 30 Jan 2012 12:48:11 PM PST