Hayabusa Probe Arrives at Destination 157
david.given writes "The Japanese space probe Hayabusa has just arrived at its destination, the asteroid Itokawa, and is taking pictures. The largely autonomous ion-drive powered vehicle was launched in 2003 and was supposed to have arrived last year, but a solar flare damaged the solar panels causing a reduction in power. It will study the asteroid for two months before collecting a sample from the surface and departing for Earth, which it should reach in 2007. It's a pity that NASA's asteroid rover, which Hayabusa was going to drop off, got cancelled due to budgetry constraints..."
Re:Gosh, real science over in Japan (Score:4, Interesting)
NASA isn't perfect, but saying they are "behind" the Japanese space program is well, simply not true.
Re:Gosh, real science over in Japan (Score:3, Interesting)
The ISAS's mu-series rocket has been fairly successful, except for a major failure of M-V rocket that carried ASTRO-E1 mission in 2000. So comparing NASA and ISAS is like apple-and-orange comparison that makes no sense, either.
Hayabusa was launched by ISAS, FWIW.
Re:Asteroids full of life? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Gosh, real science over in Japan (Score:2, Interesting)
I am less interested in the origins of the Universe, and more interested in mining the asteroids. It is very possible, that by mining the asteroids rather than the Earth, that our planet might be saved.
There is the problem of gravitation, and the effect that might be had on the solar system by changing it's mass around. That is left to be seen. Remember that Einstein omitted instantaneous gravitation, because not enough was known about it at the time.
Now I think that modern astronomers and physicists do have a great deal more data, and that they can make these predictions more accurately. I also think that bombarding comets is a potential mistake, and very possibly dangerous.
I also think that it's high time for ancient politics to pass away, and for us to escape the Earth. I am very sorry that I am too old to go, but I do have great hope for the kids.
Michael