[meteorite-list] Hayabusa Update - October 17, 2005

[Ron Baalke]

http://www.isas.ac.jp/e/snews/2005/1017_itokawa.shtml

The Current Status of the Near-Infrared Spectrometer (NIRS)
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
October 17, 2005

The Hayabusa Near-Infrared Spectrometer (NIRS) is an instrument that
obtains spectra of the sunlight reflected off the surface of asteroid
Itokawa. The spectrograph decomposes the reflected sunlight into counts
for individual wavelengths across a known spectral region. A spectrum
shows the intensity of the light at each wavelength, and the change in
intensity shows the color of the material on the surface of the
asteroid. By investigating the asteroid's colors at near-infrared
wavelengths, we can understand the mineralogy of the surface.

This figure shows the region of Hayabusa where NIRS observed between
Sep. 16 and Oct. 12. Since NIRS observes a restricted, small area (the
field of view is 0.1 x 0.1 degrees) during one observation, the
investigation of the whole asteroid takes much time.

Until now, NIRS' observations have concentrated around the equatorial
region of Itokawa. Observations of high latitude areas will be attempted
when the spacecraft moves to a position where it will become easy to
observe the North Pole and South Pole of Itokawa.

[Figure] Footprint of NIRS (05/09/17-05/10/12)