[meteorite-list] Hayabusa Approached Within 70 Meters of Itokawa

[Ron Baalke]

http://www.isas.ac.jp/e/

Hayabusa approached within 70 meters of Itokawa
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
November 11, 2005

On Nov. 9, the Hayabusa moved within 70 meters of the 
Itokawa during a descending test that aimed to verify 
the guidance and navigation functions.

The cause of an anomaly that led to the cancellation 
of the rehearsal scheduled on Nov. 4 was clarified, 
thus we will carry out its landing at the "MUSES Sea" 
and sampling under the following schedule.

Nov. 12: Rescheduled rehearsal for descending (Release 
         the probing robot "Minerva")
Nov. 19: First sampling (Release the target marker with signatures)
Nov. 25: Second sampling