Hayabusa Space Probe Fails Asteroid Landing
An artist rendition of the Hayabusa probe hovering over an asteroid,
about 180 million miles away between Earth and Mars.
Image source: USA Today / AP / Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
An AP newswire article, via USA Today, reports that:
A Japanese research probe failed to touch down on an asteroid Sunday after developing trouble just yards away from the surface, Japan's space agency said.
The Hayabusa probe, which botched a rehearsal landing earlier this month, was on a mission to briefly touch down on the asteroid, collect material, then bring it back to Earth.
When Hayabusa was 130 feet above the asteroid Itokawa, it dropped a small object as a touchdown target, then descended to 56 feet, officials from Japan's space agency, JAXA, said.
At that point, ground control lost contact with the probe for about three hours, the officials said.
posted by Fergie @ 11/20/2005 01:00:00 PM
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