Japanese spacecraft cannot land on asteroids

The Japan Space Agency has announced that its exploration ship failed to land Itokawa's asteroid on November 20. The reason is that problems occur at a height a few meters from the asteroid surface.

Hayabusa will land like this

Specifically, after approaching the surface of Itokawa at a distance of 40m at 3:30 am on November 20 (Hanoi time), the spacecraft launched a copper bullet down the asteroid as expected. To mark where the spacecraft will collect stones and sand. Another mission of the spacecraft is to leave an aluminum plate on the asteroid. The sign bears the name of 880,000 people from 149 countries, including American filmmaker Steven Spielberg and sci-fi novelist Arthur C. Clarke (English).

Next, the spacecraft continued to approach Itokawa and was only 17m from the asteroid surface. However, soon after, Hayabusa had trouble and could not confirm its height, temporarily losing contact with Earth for about 3 hours. At 10 am (Hanoi time), the spacecraft continued to transmit data but drifted away from asteroids. Tatsuo Oshima, an official of the Japanese Space Agency, said: "We believe that the copper bullet landed on the asteroid surface by Hayabusa is only 17 meters away from the surface."

Experts are contacting the spacecraft and analyzing the data to calculate its exact location. However, it is unclear whether there is a technical problem. Hayabusa's self-positioning system is programmed to cancel the landing plan in case there are a number of threat factors to the spacecraft.

Japan is the fourth country in the world to launch satellites in 1972. Earlier this year, Japan announced a major project to bring its first astronauts into space and build one. Based on the Moon in 2025. Junichiro Kawaguchi, Project Director, wants the spacecraft to land at Itokawa next Friday. If this mission succeeds, this will be the first time material from an asteroid is brought to Earth. Obtaining a sample of asteroids will help scientists discover the secrets of the solar system. Information about asteroids structure is also important because it will help people deal with asteroids that are on the road to collide with the Earth in the future.

Scientists believe that the surface of asteroids remains virtually unchanged for centuries, unlike large bodies like Earth and the Moon. A NASA spacecraft collected data for two weeks from the Eros asteroid in 2001. However, the spacecraft did not bring the model back to Earth.

Itokawa asteroid

Last Saturday, the Japanese Space Agency lost contact with a small robot released by Hayabusa after the robot could not land on the asteroid. This nearly 600g Minerva robot is designed to survey the Itokawa surface with three small cameras. Itokawa asteroid is currently about 300 million kilometers from Earth.

Hayabusa was launched in May 2003 at a cost of $ 100 million and will begin its return journey to Earth in early December. It will return to Earth and land in Australia in June 2007. Itokawa asteroid is named after Hideo Itokawa, the father of Japanese rocket science. Itokawa is moving in orbit between the Earth and the Sun. It is 690m long, 300m wide and has an attractive force of 1 / 100,000 of the Earth's gravity. That's why it's hard to land on Itokawa's surface.

Minh Son ( Summary from AP, AFP, Reuters )