Printable Version of Topic

Posted by: spdf Jan 22 2008, 02:59 PM

JAXA wants to continue with Hayabusa 2. However there is/was a huge fight about the budget. Main problem was the budget for the launch vehicle. 2 months ago or so there was a report which said, that JAXA had to find another launch vehicle or the project gets cancelled. Now the Italian space agency played saviour and overed the VEGA. So finally we might see another Hayabusa in 2011.


It was mentioned here:
http://www.jspec.jaxa.jp/080110Final_IPEWG-ProgramBook.pdf

Posted by: maschnitz Jan 29 2009, 03:28 AM

I was trying to hunt around for word on what happened with Hayabusa 2's budget crisis. I found a Japanese blogger, Shinya Matsuura, talking about a Q&A session, http://smatsu.air-nifty.com/lbyd/2008/08/823jaxa_a25a.html (http://74.125.19.100/translate_c?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://smatsu.air-nifty.com/lbyd/cat4895752/index.html&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dsite:smatsu.air-nifty.com%2B%25E3%2581%25AF%25E3%2582%2584%25E3%2581%25B6%25E3%2581%25952%2B2008%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff&usg=ALkJrhhAfUE4X8OZ5su9fsnKgVXPewIZDQ).

I don't read Japanese, so I'd love to get a better translation of the last few paragraphs of his 8/23 entry than Google Translate's:

Apparently, Marco Polo is considered a more likely project? And Hayabusa 2 may suffer from both budgetary and orbit issues and fall between the cracks?

Little help?

Posted by: Holder of the Two Leashes Jan 29 2009, 04:44 PM

Not a great advertisement for translation software, I'll say that.

The gist I get out of it is that the blogger doesn't think that there would be any suitable target from 2013 through 2017, and that if you launched in 2018 then the current probe technology would be too outdated (better to start over with a new design), and you would lose the skill set from the original Hayabusa team by that time in any event.

Posted by: maschnitz Jan 29 2009, 07:46 PM

So he's saying, basically - now or never on Hayabusa 2 (unless they happen to find a new target - say, with Pan-STARRS, or another survey.) And the budget stuff is STILL up in the air at the time of writing, despite the fact they said it'd be decided summer 2008.

So not good signs, overall, for Hayabusa 2.

Anyhow - excellent. Thank you very much for the help.

Posted by: mps Jul 28 2009, 07:32 AM

Hayabusa 2 is currently planned to be launched with H-IIA in 2014 to asteroid 1999JU3.

http://translate.google.com/translate?prev=hp&hl=en&js=y&u=http%3A%2F%2Fsmatsu.air-nifty.com%2Flbyd%2F2009%2F07%2Fjaxa2-7537.html&sl=ja&tl=en&history_state0=

The original link: http://smatsu.air-nifty.com/lbyd/2009/07/jaxa2-7537.html

Posted by: stevesliva Jul 28 2009, 05:21 PM

Fantastic. I love it when successful hardware gets launched again.

Posted by: Paolo Aug 29 2009, 07:23 AM

In the latest issue of Astronomy & Astrophysics: http://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/abs/2009/32/aa12374-09/aa12374-09.html

Posted by: Paolo Oct 2 2009, 05:19 AM

on arXiv today http://arxiv.org/abs/0910.0116

Posted by: Paolo Jul 4 2010, 06:41 PM

The latest issue of Nature mentions Hayabusa 2 while discussing the return of Hayabusa http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100629/full/466016a.html
apparently, the project has been promised an increase of funds and could fly in 2014, returning samples in 2020.

Posted by: Drkskywxlt Jul 14 2010, 07:47 PM

I saw a presentation today on Hayabusa 2 that was presented to NASA by JAXA. As already stated, they're looking at a C-type asteroid with a 2014-15 launch and an arrival in 2017-18. They are hoping to carry Minerva again.

They are also looking at Hayabusa Mark 2, but there were no details in the presentation about what a Mk 2 spacecraft would do in capability/science above the Mk 1. A Mk 2 is looking at a 2020-21 launch (if memory serves).

Posted by: pandaneko Jul 15 2010, 07:48 AM

An article found in today's (15 July) Asahi Shimbun newspaper here says what follows.

JAXA put forward (yesterday) to the Space Activities Committe (or Commission) (SAC, anyway) their Hayabusa 2 proposal for feasibility study. They (SAC) will complete their technical feasibility study during August this year. Their conclusion will then be forwarded to the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports and the government's Space Development Strategy HQ.

Whether next year's budget allocation will reflect this is everybody's concern at the moment.

Unlike Hayabusa, Hayabusa 2 will be going to organic rich asteroid. After initial sampling on arrival Hayabusa 2 will release an object to the surface and create an artificial crator of 5,6 m in diameter.

Hayabusa 2 will then land in the crator for further sampling and return to the Earth.

Pandaneko

Posted by: pandaneko Jul 15 2010, 07:56 AM

Oh, dear! I forgot to mention that Hayabusa 2 will go during the summer of 2014. This is in time for the approapriate orbital insertion to meeting up with the asteroid.

Pandaneko

Posted by: pandaneko Jul 15 2010, 01:43 PM

I now know Hayabusa 2's target. It is 1999JU3.

Pandaneko

Posted by: Hungry4info Aug 6 2010, 08:49 PM

Some diagrams and what-not.

Posted by: pandaneko Aug 11 2010, 12:27 PM

There was an article in today's (11 August) Yomiuri newspaper about Hayabusa 2. She will create a crator with an explosive charge and land in it.

She will be using a few different types of sample recovery system. One of them is a sticky material. The paper did not mentioin what other methods are.

Pandaneko

Posted by: pandaneko Aug 12 2010, 11:37 AM

My apologies, an explosive charge will be used to send out a metal chunck to the asteroid to create a crator. That makes me wonder about the potential damage to the mothership...

Pandaneko

Posted by: pandaneko Aug 12 2010, 11:50 AM

Further apologies

Please do not blame me. As I look around for more info I get slightly different versions. The latest finding is that the projectile itself will have an explosive charge in it and it will create a crator, 4m in diam, and 80cm in depth.

Pandaneko

Posted by: AndyG Aug 12 2010, 03:58 PM

A crater that size would mean blasting out over 10 tonnes of regolith (5.3 cubic metres @ 2 tonnes/m3) - and the idea is Hayabusa-2 would be near this to collect material?

Andy

Posted by: Drkskywxlt Aug 12 2010, 06:08 PM

My understanding is the spacecraft will be in a stand-off position during this phase and then approach later to sample/collect the (hopefully) pristine material inside the crater. I guess this supposed "sticky" collection device would operate in some sort of fly-through of the ejecta?

Posted by: pandaneko Aug 13 2010, 12:09 PM

There was a repeat TV programme on Hayabusa and Hayabusa 2 on NHK today (13 August). I had not watched it before. What caught my attention most was the shape of the impacter as they called it and the sequence of crater making.

The impacter had a shape of a typical drum, but about one third of the way down from the top it had a disk sticking out all around the drum. The disk width was about one third of the drum diameter, I think.

Detonation sequence is something I do not trust my memory about. It was so brief, literally a few seconds. Now, there was a clear explosion on the asteroid surface, but, at that same moment the drum was still in the air, that is what I remember. I may be wrong, of course...

Pandaneko

Posted by: pandaneko Aug 14 2010, 08:52 AM

What follows is from WIKI on Hayabusa 2. I had a look at WIKI in English and there was little. Proposed improvements are as follows.

1. Instead of a parabolic antenna an array antenna as used with Akatsuki will be used.

2. Pipe lining for chemical thrusters and reaction wheels will be improved.

3. Ion engine power will be increased from 10 micro N to 10 milli N.

4. Sampling sequence will be improved. For instance, a fish eye lens will monitor sampling process and optical monitoring of grains being retrieved.

5. Projectile's shape (sampler horn) will be changed from ball bearing shape to conical bullet shape at 90 degrees.

6. Impacter is 20 cm in diameter and weighs 10 kg. After seperation from Hayabusa 2 it will be deformed in shape by the explosive pressure to smush into the asteroid.

What surprised me was that Hayabusa 2 is very similar to Hayabusa, even with a sampler horn! I would have thought that they have given it up...

Pandaneko

Posted by: nprev Aug 14 2010, 05:16 PM

Thanks, Pandaneko!

10^3 uprating--that's a dramatic improvement in engine thrust. I wonder if that indicates advancement in the technology, or just more confidence in pushing the existing design harder based on all the experience gained with Hayabusa 1?

Retaining the sampler horn schema is surprising as well. Don't see why they'd do that unless they feel very certain that they understand what went wrong on H1...has anything been published to indicate that? (I would be surprised if much of the post-flight engineering analysis has been translated into English, if it's even been publicly released in Japanese in the first place.)

Posted by: pandaneko Aug 15 2010, 12:10 PM

I should imagine that JAXA itself cannot carry anything on Hayabusa 2 because of yet undecided budgetary confirmation. However, what follows appears to be the most official hideout for them.

http://b612.jspec.jaxa.jp/mission/e/index_e.html

Also, I now know that there will be two MINERVAs and 4 reaction wheels and that the stay period around the asteroid will be 1.5 years.

Pandaneko

Posted by: spdf Aug 16 2010, 01:02 AM

http://www.planetaryprobe.eu/IPPW7/proceedings/IPPW7%20Proceedings/Papers/Session7B/p456.pdf

Hayabusa 2 might carry a DLR lander called MASCOT.

Posted by: pandaneko Dec 23 2010, 09:22 AM

This news just in!

Hayabusa 2's budget request was fully approved by the government here!!!

It will go in 2014 as planned!!!

Pandaneko

Posted by: nprev Dec 23 2010, 09:40 AM

GREAT news!!!!

P., I know that Emily will ask for a reference in the event that she decides to write about this (and it wouldn't surprise me if she did; Hayabusa 1 enjoyed considerable mass media attention by the normal standards of UMSF); do you have one handy in either Japanese or English?

Posted by: pandaneko Dec 23 2010, 10:15 AM

Yes, though only in Japanese, from the web digest version of the Yomiuri newspaper. URL here.

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/science/news/20101222-OYT1T01175.htm

There may be an article in English with the Daily Yomiuri, but this news will be reported widely by other media too from today on, I think.

Pandaneko

Posted by: centsworth_II Dec 23 2010, 08:08 PM

Here's the English version:
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T101223003538.htm

"The government will give the science ministry the full amount--3 billion yen--it requested for development of the Hayabusa 2 space probe in the fiscal 2011 budget, sources said...."

Posted by: pandaneko Dec 24 2010, 09:15 AM

I have got this feeling that we may shift this topic into Hayabusa 2 which already exsists. The reason is that Hayabusa 1's news will continue to come in, I think, in the next year and it might become confusing to talk about the two within the same stream...

Perhaps, I should have done just that myself in the first place, if I come to think about it...

Pandaneko

Posted by: pandaneko Jan 25 2011, 10:10 AM

Another crazy thought... I was not sure where I should put this in and in the end chose this place. I am still talking about the need for engineering cameras.

Although, not directory relevant to interplanetatry missions, I tell you one episode about Hayabusa's capsule helicopter recovery. Heat shield and its inrared signnature and all that.

They did a rehearsal before hand, and what they used was a traditional Japanese feet warmer used in your bed filled with warm water. These things used to be made of corrugated metals, but increasingly these are now made of plastics, to hold warm water inside them.

I do not use one, as I use my electric bluncket, but there are still people, eldery people, who prefer these traditional warmers. Having said that, let me come to the main issue, engineering cameras.

With Hayabusa Minerva was lost (and only one image returned to earth, I think), and it must have been a very expensive system. However, prior to that deployment they sent a target marker down to the surface of the asteroid. That thing was remarkably primitive, with multi-rfelection surfaces, but what it boiled down to was another traditional thing, called ohajiki, for mainly small girls to play with.

Ohajiki is made of small beans and enclosed in a cloth (here on earth, that is) container to make it roughly round, about 5 cm in diam. With Hayabusa, two of them was used, as I remember, and the idea was that on landing they do not rebounce.

Now, if we have an engineering camara, with a fish eye lens attached to it, can we not forget about MINERVA kind of sophisticated and expensive monitoring devices? Whether angle setting is right or not should not matter as long as a fish eye lens is attached with the marker. It does not be firmly fixed, for cost saving, I think.

If we can arrange for that kind of markers, then we should be able to see what is coming down from above, and even what went wrong on landing, etc, etc. Of course, we should have another camera on board the probe itself.

Pandaneko

Posted by: centsworth_II Jan 25 2011, 11:15 AM

Of course, Minerva was not devised to monitor Hayabusa. Its purpose was to explore the surface of Itokawa. So we wouldn't want to do away with it. If I understand you, you are suggesting that the 'dumb' targets that Hayabusa dropped onto Itokawa could have had simple cameras to monitor Hayabusa's landing? Perhaps, but in addition to the camera, there would need to be a battery and transmitter along with the required electronics. More design, more testing, more weight.... unfortunately.

From http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10055257/ns/technology_and_science-space/

"In this photo, taken by the Hayabusa mothership, the object within the yellow circle is thought to be the MINERVA mini-robot, floating in space. Hayabusa's shadow can be seen on the surface of asteroid Itokawa, toward the top of the frame."


"This picture, snapped by the MINERVA mini-robot just after its deployment, shows a solar panel on the Hayabusa mothership."

Posted by: Littlebit Jan 26 2011, 05:32 PM

As I recall, the problem with the Haybusa sampling horn is that the probe landed much sooner than anticipated. I would guess - this is only a guess- that the software engineers did not expect the timing of the landing to be off this much and did not have the necessary flags set for the sampling sequence to execute. It is unclear (to me) whether or not the probe left because of a timer, a maximum temperature was exceeded, or the probe was ordered to depart from earth.

In any case, since they have not changed the design of the sampling horn; it seems a likely conclusion that the failure to collect a pair of good samples was the result of a sequencing error rather than a failure of the sampling horn.

Posted by: pandaneko Jan 27 2011, 02:56 PM

Thank you for clarification of MINERVA's role.

I now have this feeling that all future asteroid landers should have something like MINERVA. I am very ignorant about hardware costs, but they do not need propulsion systems, just being pushed out (or down), so can they not afford a few MINERVA like things, not just for surface observations, but to view what a lander looks like when it comes down and do whatever it is supposed to do on touch down?

I do want to see a lander coming down, why not? That should not be very expensive, should it?

Pandaneko

Posted by: ZLD Jan 27 2011, 06:47 PM

Somewhere I read that the Hyabusa development costs were around US$150m and the NSSDC claims the spacecraft alone was around $100m of that. I would imagine Minerva was relatively cheap in comparison. However, the US had planned a lander to be on Hyabusa as well but pulled out due to costs. It always seems to come down to politics in the end. Also, all missions to comets and asteroids, with exception to Hyabusa, have been flybys so far, making it difficult for a lander to have much time to explore before it would lose radio contact.

Posted by: djellison Jan 27 2011, 07:04 PM

No - NEAR rendezvoused with, orbited and then landed on Eros.

Posted by: ZLD Jan 27 2011, 08:33 PM

Doh, forgot that one. Thanks for reminding me.

Posted by: pandaneko Jan 30 2012, 08:41 AM

No, I cannot provide link information as all this was analogue on local newspapers here during the past 10 days to two weeks and I do not even remember which ones exactly Anyway, :

1. Hayabusa 2 is likely to go as planned in 2014, despite the recent budgetary cut due to the shortage of money in the wake of the earthquake. Actually, the amount of budget cut is very large in % terms, but this article contained in it a JAXA comment that they would somehow manage with their own internal resources being added to the current layout.

2. A German team is going to put a mini-lander with Hayabusa 2. I remember vaguely that there was a posting about this (with the same name given to it) long time ago. The problem as I remember was that the lander was not going to be given a spin at all.

P

Posted by: pandaneko Feb 10 2012, 12:13 PM

What follows is found on today's (10 Feb. 2012) Asahi newspaper digital.

JAXA will complete the design of Hayabusa 2 components by mid March this year (2012) and start manufacturing them thereafter.

At about the same time they will start electrical connection tests of comms. and control systems by having them together and if possible complete the construction of the flight model by the autumn of 2013 at the earliest.

Hayabusa 2's development budget has been almost halved to about 30x 10 to the power of 8 yen within the 2012 budgetary plan and its launch is said to be tricky, but JAXA will not change its launch schedule and will aim for a launch in 2014.

According to the plan Hayabusa 2 will be launched on board H2A in 2014 and will arrive at the carbon rich 1999 JU3 in 2018 and will return to the Earth in 2020. (Why as much as 4 years, why not 6 months like Akatsuki!, P)

Hayabusa 2's probe cost is 162x 10 to the power of 8 yen and if we include the launch cost the total cost is about 300 x 10 to the power of 8 yen. Launch windows will be open for two weeks in the summer or winter of 2014. 2015 will be left as a backup launch year.

http://www.asahi.com/digital/nikkanko/NKK201202090016.html

P

Posted by: Paolo Feb 10 2012, 03:38 PM

thanks for the update pandaneko!
cutting the budget while keeping the schedule will probably mean saving on tests and cutting corners... I have a bad feeling about this...

Posted by: spdf Feb 10 2012, 07:34 PM

Somewhere else they said, the 2014 launch depends whether or not they can get the lost parts of the FY 2012 budget additionally in FY 2013.

Something else. 600 kilo is too soft for the H-IIA? For Planet-C this problem made the development of IKAROS possible. Hope they could come with something cool this time, too.

Posted by: pandaneko Apr 25 2012, 08:48 AM

What follows is my translation of an article in one of the local newspapers here. I have no link details here, but there are other similar articles reported by other local newspapers. So, I suspect that it does not matter a lot even if I fail to give such details. Anyway, translation goes like this:




★10 million JPY private contribution in 10 dayys to JAXA. Ardent hope for Hayabusa 2.

JAXA started inviting private contributions from general public as from 2 April 2012.

Hayabusa's story gave a profound impression on people here, but there is not enough money yet for Hayabusa 2. That is why private contributions are looked at favourably. Contribution per person is staying at around JPY 10,000. JAXA started inviting contributions as from 2 April through internet.

JAXA also started introducing F-REG contribution payment service offered by Future Commerce, and also accepting credt cards and internet banking (PAY-EASY) services such as UC card, MASTER, VISA, and other credit cards with international credibility.


If you use any one of these services you do not need to your bank. Minimum contribution is JPY 1,000, and you can choose what you are contribution for, from:

1. Hayabusa 2
2. Manned spaceship/manned launcher
3. More use of Kibo modele on ISS
4. Space science use

JAXA had amassed a total of JPY 11316000 by 12 April ( almost double that by 24 April, P) and were saying thatn you very much.

Pandaneko

Posted by: pandaneko May 25 2012, 07:28 AM

Nihon Keizai Shimbun here, a financial newspaper, reported (time stamp is 25 May 2012) that JAXA started producing Hayabusa 2 and main parts will be assembled by the end of this fiscal year for testing.

Pandaneko

Posted by: pandaneko Jun 9 2012, 05:44 AM

In addition to above posting there was a similar article in today (9 June)'s Asahi Shimbun newspaper. It more or less says the same thing such as Hayabusa 2's design work was completed by the end of April this year and manufacturing started immediately. One additional information it gave is that its ion engines are so designed as to reduce output power automatically by detecting early symptons of mulfunction.

Pandaneko

Posted by: pandaneko Jun 25 2012, 07:09 AM

There is an interesting feature on JAXA Japanese web site. What follows is its translation.

<New challenegs>

We are currently considering a new device for Hayabusa 2 which was not carried by Hayabusa. It is a collision device. It will be seperated from Hayabusa 2 above 1993 JU3 and when the mothersdhip hides behind the asreroid it will explode in mid air. Then, approx. 2kg collision mass will collide with the asteroid surface and create a crater of approx. a few meters insize.

After that, collection and sampling of the newly disclosed surface will be attempted. (end of translation)

I would have thought that crater making can be best and least problematically achieved by an explosive device, somehow gently placed on the asteroid surface. That would have been space mining, but this is just a collision process!

P

Posted by: tolis Jun 28 2012, 04:13 PM

UNNECESSARY QUOTING REMOVED - ADMIN

Paraphrasing David Niven in "The Guns of Navarone": 'there is always a way to set off explosives. The trick is not to be around when they do.'

Posted by: Blue Sky Jun 28 2012, 11:42 PM

Here is a short article from the English edition of Asahi Shimbun, dated June 9:
http://ajw.asahi.com/article/economy/technology/AJ201206090044
NEC is the prime contractor again.

It seems to me the trouble with "hiding behind" the asteroid when the explosion goes off is that a lot of debris will be floating about for a while.

Posted by: Explorer1 Jun 29 2012, 12:51 AM

Why would it? The asteroid's gravity is too negligible to hold onto anything and without air resistance, all the particles would fly away at whatever speed the explosion flung them.

Posted by: pandaneko Jul 2 2012, 09:13 AM

I am not exactly sure what they have in mind. Explosion is isotopic, and to get a maximum directionality push you need an infinite mass sitting behind the explosion, resembling rather like a Chinese frying pan. If you want more then you are talking about a cannon, I think. If you reverse the whole setup you will then get a missile.

In either case they do talk about explosions. So, what are they talking about?

P

Posted by: Explorer1 Jul 2 2012, 08:54 PM

Seems to me like the goal is both replicating Deep Impact but on an inert body instead of out-gassing comet. This includes staying in the vicinity rather than just a flyby, so as to measure the velocity change easier.

Posted by: pandaneko Jul 5 2012, 08:03 AM

I realise that I have been putting all this very badly indeed.

First of all, there is no mistake in my translation about "explosion". They did say "explosion" in mid space.

My question/comment is this.

Mid space explosion cannot possibly direct a collidinng mass into the right direction. Neither will it be able to give it a sufficient kinetic energy to dig a hole in the asteroid.

So, what kind of explosion are they talking about? Perhaps, the collidinng mass has an explosive charge to detonate even if incorrectly pointed (as long as it does get tothe asteroid surface?).

P

Posted by: pandaneko Sep 18 2012, 09:58 AM

There was a brief TV news coverage on Hayabusa 2 on NHK here yesterday. It said that in order to accelerate the development of Hayabusa 2 a new project manager was appointed. He is Prof Hitoshi Kuninaka of JAXA (that is ISAS). He was apparrently responsible for the development of ion engines used on Hayabusa 1.

Prof Makoto Yoshikawa of NAO (National Astronomical Observatory) is no longer the PM for Hayabusa 2 ? In any event the news also said that fabrication of Hayabusa 2 components is progressing rapidly in time for sending it out in December 2014.

The TV also showed the impact simulation, very briefly, 2 ,3 seconds. There was a clear and large fireball in mid air (it did look like an explostion, not a firing of a projectile) , and also an explosive impact on the asteroid surface. I am not sure if there was a time lapse between them as the video was so brief. I am more and more confused by this...

P

Posted by: Blue Sky Sep 18 2012, 12:10 PM

Is Prof. Kawaguchi involved in Hayabusa-2 at all?

Posted by: pandaneko Sep 19 2012, 11:30 AM

Good question and I am even more confused by all this. My Google alert today (local Kyodo Tsushin, a news provider like AFP), I think, gave me an e-mail (2012/09/15 16:56) and it says Hayabusa 2 is progressing steadily under the direction of Prof Makoto Yoshikawa. My earlier posting was based on the NHK news which I saw on 17 September.

Since I am not exactly sure about the difference between PI and PM both of them may still be involed, but probably not Prof Kawaguchi.

This Google alert of 15 September also gave me a clue to what I had been wondering about. It says that a mass (not an explosive mass) will collide with the asteroid by the force of an explosion. This may be in line with the simulation video I saw.

There was a fireball in mid-air and it was spherical in shape. The explosion on the ground was hemispherical. This, to me, seems like a very inefficient of digging a hole in the crater. Perhaps, there is a very good reason?

P

Posted by: Paolo Dec 27 2012, 09:03 AM

Hayabusa 2's structure complete http://www.jaxa.jp/projects/sat/hayabusa2/index_e.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+jaxa%2Fnew_e+%28JAXA+Web+What%27s+New%29

Posted by: elakdawalla Dec 28 2012, 03:39 AM

That's great news. I wish JAXA posted higher-res versions of their photos with their articles....

Posted by: Paolo Dec 29 2012, 08:57 AM

high resolution pics are on JAXA digital archive
http://jda.jaxa.jp/category_p.php?lang=e&page=&category1=256&category2=306&category3=313&page_pics=50

Posted by: pandaneko Dec 31 2012, 06:51 AM

Thanks, Paolo

I also found an intersting article, which I have translated as follows. Its origin is given at the top of my translation. In it, P stands for pictures and G stands for graphics. Some of these are actually texts and they are too small to be properly recognied, so I have not translated these.

Here it goes, from P

http://news.mynavi.jp/articles/2012/12/28/hayabusa2/index.html


JAXA demonstrates Hayabusa-2 flight model to the press

On 26 December JAXA displayed the flight model currently under construction at its Sagamihara campus (ISAS campus). It is a succesor to Hayabusa which landed on
an asteroid caIled Itokawa and returned to Earth in June 2010. It was shown to the press at the time when only its main body frame and solar pannells are complete.

P-1:　Hayabusa 2 shown here. It looks very different from its final form of completion.
P-2:　This a 1/20 scale model. A cylindrical device shown in the middle of its body is the impacter.


Another point of difference is its increased length (or height)

Hayabusa 2 measures 1.0mx1.6mx1.25m and weighs 600kg including fuel. As its predecessor it is intended to carry out a sample return mission. Launch timing of December
2014 is assumed. If successful it will return at the end of 2020.


The model shown this time is the completed body frame with its solar pannels plus dummy weight components. Dummy weights are attached to ensure same weight
and same centre of gravity during the vibration tests currently being conducted.


P-3: Shown from behind the probe. Body and solar pannels are flight ready. Main body is composed of 8 alminium honeycombe pannels (6 outer and 2 inner pannels).
P-4: Holes are meant to hold iron engines. Shown in front is the dummy iron engine weight and fuel tank dummy weight is seen at the end of the hole.


P-5: A pipe like object is seen sticking out. This is a dummy middle gain antenna.
P-6: Seen from the left. 3 solar pannels per one wing are folded and obstructing the view of the side of the main frame.


P-7: The device with an ambrella like object is the sampler horn. This sampler horn also is a flight model. A cylinder shown in front is the sase for Minerba 2
(mini-rover)
P-8: Sampler horn seen from the other side. Since three minerba 2 rovers will be on board there is also another cyliner on this side.


P-9: We could not get the front view of of the main body. Dummy weight of the return capsule is only just shown here.
P-10: The model is placed on the vertical vibration tester. Red cable leading from the probe is for acceleration sensors. In front is the horizontal vibration
test bed.


Main points of difference from Hayabusa are as follows.


G-1: On board device comparison (1)
G-2: On board device comparison (2))


Conspicuous in its external appearance is the two high gain flat antennas in place of the usual parabolic antenna. Of these one is intended as with Hayabusa for X-band
(7-8 GHz) range, but the other one is for Ka band (32 GHz) range to ensure higher comms. speed and to secure higher degree of redundancy.


Vital to the return journey is the fuel efficient iron engines. Same number of four engines will be on board. However, propulsive power of each unit has been
increased from 8mN to 10mN.

New device that attracted our attention is the impacter. This device will accelerate a 2 kg copper collider (liner) to a few km velocity by explosion of an explosive
and collide with the asteroid surface, creating an artificial crater of a few meters in diamter. This will make it possible to sample prestine inner materials not
affected by solar corrosion.

There is no significant change made to the sampler horn. One small change is the nails added to the inner surface of the horn tip in order to increase the amount of
samples. The number of projecter has been increased from 3 to 4. Sample containing room is now divided into 3 sections (previously 2 sections).

With Hayabusa there was only one mini rover called Minerba which faild to land on Itokawa. With Hayabusa 2 there will be three of these of similar size and these will
be collectively called Minerba 2. In addition another small lander called MASCOT developped in Europe will be on board.


Hayabusa was intended for sampling from an S type asteroid. Hayabusa 2 will ber flying to a C type asteroid 1999JU3 where existence of organic materials and water
is expected. As a result observation devices will include a near infrared spectrometer and mid infrared camera. Of these Hayabusa did have a near infrared spectrometer,
but observation range has been changed so that water absorption band can be seen.

Main body frame looks similer in size, but it is longer by 15cm in the height direction. Its weight is also heavier bby 100kg in order to cope with the increased
number of devices.

2 years to launch, no time to loose

Expected launch timing is December 2014, but if JAXA fails to make it next launch timing will be 10 years later, making continuiation the whole project impossdible.

Sample return from type C asteroids will be scientifically significant. However, many of them exist in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter and they are
too far from here and Hayabusa class probes will not be able to cope with the mission. 1999JU3 just happens to be in near earth orbit, making it about the only type C
asteroid.




G-3: With Hayabusa 2 there are 3 points of significance
G-4: Mission scenario is different



G-5: Selection of target asteroid. 1999JU3 has been selected.
G-6: With 1999JU3 we still do not know its exact shape.


Project manager, Prof Hitoshi Kuninaka of JAXA (ISAS) stresses emphatically that they will to stick with the launch in December 2014. Theoretically speaking,
there are windows in June and December of 2015. However, arrival timing of June 2018 cannot be moved and the delayed launch will mean that much harsher operation
of iron engines.





P-11: Hayabusa 2 project manager, Prof Hitoshi Kuninaka. He was in cgarge of iron engines with Hayabusa.

December 2014 launch means 80% operation rate. However, the launch in Decmber 2015 will require 96% operation rate, meaning rest time of only 7 hours per week.
Communication with the earth station alone will require 5 to 6 hours and that means almost limiting conditions in case of troubles.

Right now, Hayabusa 2 is located at the Sgamihara campus of JAXA (ISAS), but very soon after the year end 2012 it will be transported to Tsukuba Space Center
to undergo accoustic tests. It will then be returnd to Sagamihara in mid January 2013 to undergo electricl tests and other component tests. Then, from October
2013 its final configuration will start, to be flight ready by summer 2014.

Posted by: TheAnt Jan 1 2013, 10:30 AM

Thank you for yet another update pandaneko, appreciated. =)

Posted by: pandaneko Jan 2 2013, 12:49 PM

Today, I actually managed to find an answer to this question of mine. It is revealed in a document presented at an annual ISAS conference of almost exactly one year ago. Since it is a short 10 page document I will fully translate it and post it tommorrow, I think.

P

Posted by: pandaneko Jan 3 2013, 09:28 AM

Today, I actually managed to find an answer to this question of mine. It is revealed in a document presented at an annual ISAS conference of almost exactly one year ago. Since it is a short 10 page document I will fully translate it and post it tommorrow, I think.

P
[/quote]ause of that

As it turned out this is a 20 page document, and not because of that I have not been able to translate the whole pages. So, I am uploading that has been translated so far, as follows. P

My notation is as follows.

Squares on the original PPT files are designated as S (such as S1, S2 etc) and the diamonds are designated as d (such as d1 and d2 etc).

Title page

Hayabusa 2 collision device (S1-07)

5 January 2011
Hayabusa 2 project - collidding device subsystem
T Saeki (JAXA)

P-1 (page one)
Page title: Hayabusa 2 project

S1: With Hayabusa 2 we intend to create an artificial crater by making a colliding body collide with an asteroid.

S2: We will observe thus created crater and subsequently try to sample soils in the crater.



On this page there are 3 boxes as follows. They correspond to Launch, Re-entry, and Sample analysis. Also,
there are three pictures.

Picture -1 at the top is qualified as :

Remote sensing observation (optical cameras, infra-red spectrometer, LIDAR (distance measurement)) etc
＝＞ investigation of the asteroid characteristics
Asteroid observation from vicinity, small rovers, sampling of surface materials

Picture -2 in the middle is qualified as:

Carrying out the collision operation

Picture -3 down at the bottom is as follows:

Observation of crater formation by cameras and sampling of prestine materials (extra bonus if successful)

P-2
Page title: Hayabusa 2 colliding device

S1: SCI(Small Carry-on Impactor)

S2: Create an artificial crater by a collision process

d1: Acceleration by rocket motors etc will mean longer acceleration distances and neccesitate guidance,
leading to system becoming too complicated.

S3: Use an explosion formed intrusion mass which can be created in a very short time so that the colliding device itself willl not neeed to
control its own attitude and carry out guidance.

d2: Acceleration of a metal object by an explosive charge
d3: Ultra-short time acceleration: (up to 2km/s in 1ms or less)
d4: Less contamination of the soil because explosion itself will not crate the crater
d5: Casing material will fly away by the force of explosion

P-3
Page title: Colliding device configuration (graphics and from left to right, section or areawise)

Re-entry vehicle (pale blue area on the left)
and it includes cameras

Remaining area(s) to the right of the re-entry vehicle depicts the collision device which includes:

A: Seperation mechanism (which, I think, is slightly tinted)

and its collision device interface section contains wired interface, pyros for seperation and seperation connecter spring


B: Collision device body

and this consists of :

B-1: Collision controller which includes:

temp. monitors, heaters, power source circuits, sequensers, seperation detecting sensors, primary batteries, ignition/safety mechaism,
heat controlling materials

B-2: Collision explosive section which contains:

relay explosive (ignition explosive?), main explosive charge and a metal liner

P-4
Page title: Mass etc

S1: Mass: Less than 20kg (including seperation mechanism)
S2: Physical size: 300mm diamter x 300mm height
S3: Location: Z face of the probe (inside the rocket coupling ring)

P-5
Page title: Seperation mechanism

S1: Spin seperation (same as Hayabusa)

d1: Collision device itself is not equipped with an attitude control system. Mothership will direct the device.
d2: Spin will be given becuse of the long time before collision (40 minitues) after seperation to maintain its attitude.

P-6
Page title: Outline of collision operation

S1: Colliding device will scatter small fragments in all directions (with velocities up to a few km/s). In addition, landing on the asteroid surface will mean
soil scattering. For this reason, the probe will hide behind the asteroid immediately after the seperation.

(after this, there are 3 boxes as follows)

Box 1: Debris avoidance operation: Hide behind the asteroid.

Box 2: Avoiding high speed ijecta by hiding behind the asteroid: Hide behind the asteroid.

Box 3: Avoiding low speed ijecta: Keep enough distance from the asteroid if they are doing regular orbital flying. At ultra high altitudes
they will have very small velocities and impact effects will be minimal and the probability of collision itself will be very small.

Posted by: Paolo Jan 3 2013, 04:47 PM

thank you for your translation, pandaneko, as usual
can you share the link to the document you are translating?

Posted by: centsworth_II Jan 3 2013, 09:37 PM

From http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0094576512004614

A schematic of the shaped charge penetrator, a model, and a test impact.

More pictures at the link.

EDIT: The model pictured above is captioned: "Small model of the explosive part. Weight of the explosive is about 150 g." The schematic below is captioned: "Shape of explosive part. It has a liner face in the shape of a shallow dish. The weight of the explosive is about 4.5 kg." So it seems the actual impactor will have 30 times the explosive as the model.

Posted by: pandaneko Jan 4 2013, 02:14 AM

Quote removed - Mod


Thank you very much for this. I am particularly grateful because I now seem unable to access the original source file. It was:

http://ae86.eng.isas.jaxa.jp/sss12/paper/sss12_s1_06_20120202232209.pdf and when I try it I am refused access and one of the advices given is the cache file below, but it does not carry pictures and schematics.

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://ae86.eng.isas.jaxa.jp/sss12/paper/sss12_s1_07_20120202232346.pdf

However, I pasted texts into my memo pad. I think some of these are still useful without picture reference and I will try to translate them this evening. In any event "centsworth_II" information is sufficient for us to understand impact operation, I think.

P

Posted by: pandaneko Jan 4 2013, 07:48 AM

Quote removed - Mod

This, actually is far better than the pictures and schematics carried in the document I was using. For instance, All I could find as the liner shape was a simple vertical line because only a cross section schematic was there in the document I was translating. Here, you can see a lot more.

Anyway, I have been yapping about this mid spce explosion for a long time, thinking that such an explosion cannot possibly send the colliding mass in the right and accurate direction. I am now a lot happier.

In case anybody is interested I am pasting the remaining pages of translation as follows. P

P-7
Page title: Collision operation

Outline:

1.Mothership descends to the asteroid with the collision device pointing to the asteroid
2.Seperation at an altitude of approx. 500m
3.Horizontal evacuation maneuver
4.DCAM seperation
5.Vertical evacuation maneuver
6.Detonation. Timing is by a pre-set timer. Timer is activated on detecting seperation.

P-8
Page title: Evacuation time

Time between seperation and detonation:

If too short then delta V required for evacuation will get larger. If too long the error in colliding position will get larger,
making the collision point area lager and/or fall to the asteroid before detonation

(I remember there was a couple of pictures here, P)

P-9
Page title: Evacuation maneuver and collision accuracy

Time from seperation to detonation: 2400 seconds, collision point accuracy (radius) of approx. 200m, evacuation delta V is approx. 10m/s


P-10
Page title: Explosive section:

Shape: conical
Liner: Copper without oxygeon
Explosive charge: HMX type PBX
Mass: Approx. 9kg (explosive charge alone is 4.5kg)

P-11
Page title: Liner flight

Liner shape: Shell type.
Deformation time: < 0.5ms
Relative collision velocity: > 2000m/s.
Mass: > 2kg.

P-12

Liner into sand experiment

P-13

1/2 scale model tests

P-14

1/2 scale model flight tests (continued)


P-15

1/2 scale model flight tests (continued)

P-16
Page title: Long flight tests

Test flight distance of approx. 100m

P-17
Page title: Long flight tests (continuation)

Collision body : 1/1 scale model was used and it was confirmed that its intended flight shape was
successfully formed by explosion

P-18
Page title: Long flight tests (continuation)

Deviation from designed flight path of less than 1 degree confirmed, velocity also confirmed

P-19
Page title: Long flight tests (continuation)

Observation of ejecta was carried out

P-20
Page title: Summary

Designed results confirmed and further improvements will be made.

Posted by: pandaneko Jan 28 2013, 08:21 AM

Below is just for your information.

March edition of Scientific American (Japanese version) apparently gives the names of those involved in Hayabusa 2 as follows.

Project manager is Prof Hitoshi Kuninaka of JAXA (ISAS).
Project scientist is Prof Seiichiro Watanabe of Nagoya University. His main interest is planet formation.
Mission manager is Prof Makoto Yoshikawa of JAXA (ISAS and National Astronomical Observatory)

P

Posted by: pandaneko Jan 29 2013, 11:41 AM

On my way back from a gym session I walked into a library and amazingly found the March edition of this Scientific American!

There was a short article in it with some photos. Photos apart, what caught my eyes were:

1. There will be a small camera to televise the moment of crater creation.
2. There will be 4 reaction wheels (instead of 3 on Hayabusa), all supposedly trouble free because JAXA now know what went wrong with Hayabusa reaction wheels.
3. Improved (on Akatsuki's) chemical engines.
4. More powerful (+ 20%) ion engines.

P

Posted by: MahFL Jan 29 2013, 12:27 PM

Is the reason for the reaction wheels failure available to the public ?

Posted by: pandaneko Jan 30 2013, 08:31 AM

I have no idea and the article did not mention the reason. If there are JAXA reports on this issue I am sure there are reasons given there, but finding those reports is a big problem, I think. By the way, Hayabusa 2 will definitely go in 2014 as the funding has been secured. There have been many newspaper reports on this.

P

Posted by: Blue Sky Feb 7 2013, 08:55 PM

Ah, so the explosive device is not "fired" at the asteroid, so there would be no kick-back. The main vehicle starts moving toward the target, releases the impactor, and then moves away, leaving the impactor to continue on toward the asteroid.

Posted by: pandaneko Mar 19 2013, 08:41 AM

What follows is from MSN-Sankei newspaper dated 07:58 (local) on 18th March 2013.

JAXA announced that they will use part of the contributions from the general public (approx. JPY 20.000.000) for the flight of Hayabusa 2 in order to install an additional camera at the bottom of the main body so that sampling process can be viewed from the earth.

P

Posted by: Explorer1 Mar 19 2013, 05:01 PM

Wow! Now that's dedication to PR!
Yes, it's not entirely unprecedented (Junocam, etc.), but seeing such support for outreach is very reassuring.

Posted by: centsworth_II Mar 19 2013, 06:55 PM

Most impressive to see that outreach in this case is a two way street. Public donations used for a high public interest instrument. Similar to the Planetary Society's Mars Microphone. I have a feeling (hope) that the camera will be a more integrated instrument that will actually be used as opposed to the microphone which was more like a hitchhiker that mission planners were reluctant to turn on.

Posted by: nprev Mar 19 2013, 10:03 PM

Impressive outreach indeed, but let's be careful when analyzing the reasons why instruments are included or omitted. Integration is sometimes more art than science; designers are wary of add-ons, and rightly so.

Posted by: Astro0 Apr 8 2013, 03:03 AM

Hayabusa 2 Name and Message Campaign

http://www.jaxa.jp/press/2013/03/20130329_hayabusa2_e.html

Posted by: monty python Apr 8 2013, 05:32 AM

I love these send your name things. I can show support and almost be immortal. GO JAXA!

Posted by: punkboi Apr 10 2013, 04:39 AM

You can now submit your name on the Japanese version of JAXA's Hayabusa 2 page:

http://153.122.7.196/form/

(Deadline: Juy 16 - 12:00 PM JST)

The English version should be up on The Planetary Society's website this Saturday (April 13)

Posted by: punkboi Apr 16 2013, 12:36 AM

You can now submit your name on The Planetary Society's website:

http://www.planetary.org/get-involved/messages/hayabusa-2/

Posted by: pandaneko Apr 30 2013, 08:33 AM

I have checked with JAXA HP in English, but I could not find immediately if what follows is actually carried there. So, just in case, what follows is from Nihon Keizai Shimbun dated 23 April.

"JAXA are inviting 2 piggy-back interplanetary space probes:

JAXA announced on 23 April that they will invite 2 piggy-backs to be launched with Hayabusa 2 on their H2A rocket. Invitation period is by the end of May and selection will be made at the end of June. 2 space probes of each less than 50 kg are invited. Hayabusa 2 itself will weigh 600 kg."

This makes me think and wonder as follows.

1. Can anybody make proposals so quickly?
2. This must be just powdering operation and the infomation has been circulating within intimate circles, both domestic and intrernational, for a long time.

P

Posted by: stone Apr 30 2013, 12:52 PM

" 2 piggy-backs to be launched with Hayabusa 2 "

I thought the ATOM (Mars aero-capture mission ) would be one of those missions?
I read something about it in 2012.

Posted by: Paolo Apr 30 2013, 05:00 PM

according to http://cwe.ccsds.org/sea/docs/SEA-D-DOR/Meeting%20Materials/2012.10.Cleveland/CCSDS_fall_2012%20-%20JAXA%20presentation.pdf (undated but named "fall 2012")

Posted by: TheAnt Apr 30 2013, 07:01 PM

I honestly don't think so, just a proposal can take up to a year to get a heads up. Then they would have to build it.

Even if some agency or university were sitting on one suitable unlaunched craft/probe, they would have to practically carry it out the door directly for intergation and testing.
So it sound like a nice offer, though one without actual candidates, now that delays have created a vacant spot - perhaps even two.

Posted by: Explorer1 May 1 2013, 01:23 AM

Is it also too late to use those 50 kilos on Hayabusa 2 itself, somehow? Or is this offer specifically for other craft on the same launcher? I mean it would be a waste to just let an opportunity like this go.

Posted by: nprev May 1 2013, 03:16 AM

Sure, but it would be a risk to rush a development & integration effort with too little time for testing before the launch date. Let's see what they do.

Posted by: Paolo May 1 2013, 09:54 AM

for more info on the Mars aerocapture demonstrator see http://websites.isae.fr/sites/websites/IMG/pdf/fujita_jaxa.pdf

Posted by: vjkane May 2 2013, 12:04 AM

http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.aspx?id=/article-xml/asd_04_26_2013_p01-02-573775.xml that Japan will be cutting back on its space plans and, "But former high-priority goals to promote environmental monitoring, human space activities and putting robots on the Moon are now much lower priorities and will have to fight for funding." I don't know how this will affect Mars plans. Hayabusa-type missions are apparently still planned.

Posted by: Paolo Dec 12 2013, 07:57 AM

Hayabusa 2 will be accompanied in solar orbit by two microspacecraft, PROCYON and Artsat 2 and possibly also by Shin'en 2.
The most interesting of the bunch is PROCYON which, among other things, will demonstrate imaging techniques during at least one but possibly up to three close flybys of small NEOs
a presentation of the mission and spacecraft is available http://cwe.ccsds.org/sea/docs/SEA-D-DOR/Meeting%20Materials/2013.10.San%20Antonio/CCSDS%20Fall%202013%20-%20JAXA%20presentation.pdf

Posted by: Paolo Jan 31 2014, 08:18 AM

a rather detailed description of PROCYON (in Japanese) is available https://www.wakusei.jp/activities/shourai/epsilon/epsilon1/VII2_Funase.pdf

Posted by: pandaneko Apr 6 2014, 05:46 AM

Re above I have just translated this article and the first few pages (up to page 5) are as follows. The rest can be uploaded within the next week, I think. (P)

Contents of Presentation
• Significance and possibility of hyper minitualisation in deep space exploration

* Reference in Space Science and Probe Roadmap
• What is hyper minitualisation?
• Status of hyper minitualisation space probe industry
• Mission possibilities in hyper minitualised deep space probes

* PROCYON- 50kg class hyper minitualised deep space probe
• Mission outline
• Probe system outline
• Development
• Development schedule



P-2

(continue from page 2)

Significance in minitualisation and hyper minitualisation

What follows are some of the remarks made in the Space Science Probe Roadmap. Here, Importance of minitualisation of satelliets and space probes is recognised.
• with a view to realising low cost and high frequency space science missions using improved Epsilon rockets we should aim at minitualisation and improvements of satellites and space probes
• improved Epsilon rockets should be able to send out small solar system probes more frequently...
• future visions of space probes and satellite systems...through innovation, minitualisation, and weight reduction in probe architecture we should aim at more advanced and flexible missions

Ｐ-3

•Objectives in minitualisation include frequent missions under budgetary and costing constraints. However, it does not mean "minitualisation=conpromise in sceince results (should not)

---> what should then we be doing?

Hyper minitualisation=Innovation (diagram header)

Horizontal axis: system scale and number of functions etc.
Vertical axis: costs, weight, development length etc.

horizontal dotted lines in red: limit of costs and weights etc.

3 character sets in square from top to bottom are:
No innovation
Innovation speed: low
Innovation speed: high

(Annotation along the dotted lines in black from LL to UR)

more functional!
more advanced missions!
more... more...

P-4

Annotation along the dotted lines in red from LL to UR
innovation in minitualisation
(such as introductionof highly advanced techniques) etc.)
more advanced missions made possible!





P-5

Posted by: pandaneko Apr 7 2014, 01:19 AM

Second portion of the translation as follows. Page 5 to page 10. (P)


Examples of innovation in hyper minitualisation
(page header)

similar accuracy in positional astronomy (characters to the right of left larger photo, above arrow)

HIPPARCOS (ESA) >1ton, 1989 (left photo)

Nano-JASMINE (Univ. Tokyo) 33kg, 2014 (right photo)

"achieved mass reduction to 1/30 via progress and revolution in technology"
(not at the expense of function or capability)




P-5
Towards hyper mini satellites: Hodoyoshi project
・aiming at education/engineering experiments: learning from failures

(first 4 lines in the top left yellow square as follows)
・unpractical S/N ratio and comms. capability etc.
・trial and error (time consuming at times)
・no standardisation - one product only

(next 4 lines in the bottom left yellow square as follows)
・practical level capability and reliability
・development of small yet functional devices­
・systematic developmental methodology
(being sure of end products)
・standadizing on software and satellite components etc.
(applicable to other uses)
aiming at low costs and shorter development period
P-6
(character sets below top right photo as follows)
angular resolution of 30～1000m
10 kbps

(character sets below bottom right photo as follows)
angular resolution of 2.5～200m
100 Mbps

(No need to translate page 7)

(four character sets from top to bottom)
Catalogue of onboard devices (Hodoyoshi project)
Ultra minituare electric propulsion
Radiation hardened ultra small onboard computer
Ultra small attitude control devices
(such as iW，CG，C，CQ

P-8
(No need to translate page 9)

Significance of ultra minitualisation in deep space probes: even lighter and even deeper

(character set on the graph, top right)
（figure: courtesy of ISAS)
(characters along the solid lines from top to bottom)
reinforcement LEO 3 ton class
reinforcement LEO 2 ton class
4th stage
(character set lower right at top as follows)
50kg class, Ultra small probes X 4
(character set lower right at bottom as follows)
50kg class, Ultra small probes, C3 approx.40 (Ceres)
(and at the very bottom as follows)
(C3：how much deeper can we throw into?)


P-10

Posted by: Tom Dahl Apr 7 2014, 04:49 PM

Thank you very much for the translations!

Posted by: pandaneko Apr 7 2014, 11:05 PM

Translation of pages 10 to 15. More will follow. P

Significance of ultra minitualisation in deep space probes: even lighter and even deeper

(character set on the graph, top right)
（figure: courtesy of ISAS)
(characters along the solid lines from top to bottom)
reinforcement LEO 3 ton class
reinforcement LEO 2 ton class
4th stage
(character set lower right at top as follows)
50kg class, Ultra small probes X 4
(character set lower right at bottom as follows)
50kg class, Ultra small probes, C3 approx.40 (Ceres)
(and at the very bottom as follows)
(C3：how much deeper can we throw into?)


P-10
Ultra small deep space probes - mission varieties (1)

＊ Piggy back on larger space probes and missions
– examples: IKAROS (on Akatsuki)，PROCYON（on Hayabusa 2)
– frequency is minimal, but offers precious opportunity despite the lack of merit arising from low cost and high frequency potential

＊ Piggy back on GTO (geostationary transfer orbit) missions
–small kick stage (approx. a few 100kg) added to the top of launcher is used to insert small probe into orbits outside gravity (C3>0) after main satellite insertion into GTO
– after that the probe will move into its own mission orbit by EDVEGA etc. (electric propulsion as used in Hayabusa)

Ｐ-11


Ultra small deep space probes - mission varieties (2)

＊ single probe launch by low cost, medium rocket (Epsilon)
– insertion into orbit which reaches ultra far astronomical object making use of its light weight (approx. 50kg)
– conducting risky project as precursor to future medium to large missions

＊ cluster of probes launched by medium, low cost rocket (Epsilon)
–simultaneous launch of ultra light probes by a single rocket
– insertion into far reaching orbit is not possible, but individual orbit manuevability can secure limited mission　freedom and variation (--> leading to low cost and frequent deep space missions


P-12

Technologies required for lutra small deep space probes
(header)

• electricity generation very far from Sun --> ultra light weight power generating system (above all photos)
• highly efficient and small propulsion system for orbital manipulation (above middle two photos)
• overall weight reduction in bus related devices >> (attitude control system, power system, computers etc.)
(above bottom three photos)

(and at the very bottom)
Component technologies for ultra small deep space probes are becoming available

P-13

Presentation contents
• Possibility and significance of ultra small deep space probes
• References made in space science and probing roadmap
• What is meant by "Ultra small probes"?
•Current status of ultra small probe industry
• Mission varieties and realisability of ultra small deep space probes
• PROCYON- 50kg class ultra small deep space probes
• Mission outline
• Outline of probe system
• Development
• Development schedule

P-14

Outline of PROCYON mission
(PRoximate Object Close flYby with Optical Navigation)
Mission sequence
Dec 2014: launch, followed by a series of various component engineering test missions
Dec 2015: Earth swingby
After Jan. 2016: Planetary flyby mission

Outline of mission components

1. 50kg class ultra small deep space probe bus technology testing (nominal mission)
(contents in bottom left square)
a. orbit determination, comms., attitude control, temp. control, and power generation in deep space
b. orbit manipulation in deep space by ultra small electric propulsion system
2. Verification of deep space probing technologies
(contents in bottom right square)

(Advanced mission: additional mission components)

c. comms. by highly efficient X-band power amp. using GaN
d. VLBI navigation in deep space
e. flyby around asteroids using combined radio and optical wave navigation
f. asteroid flyby in ultra proximity and at high velocity using line of sight tracking

＜Outline of ultra close, high velocity asteroid flyby＞
(explanation on the right handside picture of probe)

Relative velocity in flyby
> a few km/s

Minimum approach distance
a few 10km

line of sight control

Flyby at ultra close range and obtain high resolution pictures by mirror driving on board and line of sight tracking feedback of pictures

End of P-15

Posted by: Paolo Apr 8 2014, 05:13 AM

thank you Pandaneko, and welcome back!

Posted by: pandaneko Apr 8 2014, 10:33 PM

More pages (18,19,20,22) to follow. P

(No need to translate pages 16 and 17)

System configuration

Hodoyoshi satellite system is used for the main system components of power and EDHS/EAOCS.
(Tuning and improvements for deep space mission will be conducted for PROCYON)

①Comms. system (ISAS)
②Propulsion system (Univ. Tokyo and ISAS)
③ Mission system (Univ. Tokyo, Meisei Univ, Rikkyo Univ)
(optical camera for asteroid observation)
(geo-corona imager)

P-18
Ultra smal comms. system for deep space probes
We are developping ultra small X-band comms. system which is compatible with other deep space probes such as Hayabusa

Specs. of PROCYON communication system
目仕様
Frequency band is X, category B
Uplink frequency: 7.1 [GHz]
Downlink frequency: 8.4 [GHz]
Coherent ratio: 749/880
Output power: larger than 15W
Command bit rate: 15.625, 125 [bps], 1 [kbps]
Telemetry bit rate: 8 [bps] 〜4 [kbps]
Maximum communicable distance: larger than 2 [AU]
Orbit determination: R&RR
Grund stations: Usuda and Uchinoura
P-19
HGA(PZ plane)
MGA(MZ plane)
LGA(PZ,MZ plane)

Unified propulsion system of ion thruster and cold gas jets
(what follows is the character strings inside top square)
Unified propulsion system using Xe based electrical propulsion (small acceleration and high specific impulse) and cold gas jet system for attitude control (RW unloading)+ orbit conrol (acceleration)

(middle table contents as follows)
Probe total mass: 60 kg
Xe mass: 2.5 kg
MIPS specific impulse: 1200s
MIPS propulsion: 300×10-6N
CGJ specific impulse: 25s
CGJ propulsion: 11×10-3N

(below satellite picture, colours correspond)
Ion thruster thrust direction
CGJ is used together with RCS for orbit control

(character string at very bottom)
Ion thruster for Hodoyoshi satellite

P-20

(No need to translate page 21)

Mission System

（Optical navigation and flyby camera）

• Imaging system for high speed/ultra close flyby

• Realise angular resolution even by the small satellite borne telescope required for optical navigation during close flyby of asteroid

• Realise high speed changes in line of sight by controling the rotation of part of the telescope system (driving mechanism) through image feedback

Optical system
High speed line of sight changes by driving mirorr rotation
→capable of tracking asteroid before and after closest approach
(inside top right square)
Optical system capable of observing objects as dim as magnitude 12 despite 50mm aperture and 150mm focal length
(inside bottom right square)
Driving mechanism capable of controling the rotational angle around optical axis of the telescope
P-22

(end of pages 18, 19, 20, and 22)

Posted by: nprev Apr 9 2014, 04:56 AM

Pandaneko, just wanted to thank you for yet another superb effort to help us English speakers understand yet another JAXA mission; it's very much appreciated!!!

Posted by: pandaneko Apr 10 2014, 11:16 AM

What follows is the rest of my translation. P

Development teams

Joint project by JAXA (ISAS) and Tokyo University community

aiming at entirely new form of deep space exploration (ultra small deep space probe) by bringing together knowhows (ultra small satellite technology/deep space probe technology)

(System: Univ. Tokyo/ISAS)
(Ground operation: ISAS)　　　　　　　　　　　


Propulsion system: Univ. Tokyo/ISAS

SAP opening: Nihon Univ.

Mission system: Meisei Univ./Univ. Tokyo

Science instrument: Rikkyo Univ.

Comms. : ISAS

DH system: Tokyo Science Univ.

P-23

Development schedule

Flight model of each device is currently being manufactured in time for flight model integration in April 2014

Nearer events:

System structure model/thermal model testing (mid Jan. to Feb.)
Compatibility testing Usuda and Uchinoura ground stations (mid to end Feb.)

(what follows is the translation of characters inside the chart)

The character above 7 8 9 10 11 12 1 2 3 refers to fiscal 2013 and the numbers correspond to July (7), August, September up to March (3)

The character above 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1112 refers to fiscal 2014 and the numbers correspond to April(4), May, up to December (12)

(Hereafter the chart is regarded as a matrix and from left and from topwise:)

(C1:R1) :system
(C1:R2): device
(C2:R1): design
(C2:R2): tests
(C2:R3): newly developped devices
(C2:R4): devices already developped
(C4,5,6:R1): system design
(C5,6,7,8:R3): BBM/EM manufacturing/test
(C8,9,10,11:R3): FM manufacturing （some devices）
(C5,6,7,8,9:R4): FM manufacturing/environment test （some devices）

(and finally, diagonally across the bulk of chart from top left to bottom righ)

STM/TTM test
Usuda/Uchinoura compatibility test
prior compatibility test
all devices integration test
final overall test
margin
launch site work/loading
launch (December 2014)


P-24



Summary

• Significance and possibility of ultra minitualisation of deep space probes

– Minitualisation/ultra minitualisation is an important direction to take in order to carry out low cost and frequent science missions (as stated in Space Science Roadmap)
– What is required is not a simple minitualisation of mission and system scales, thereby making compromises in the mission results
– Ultra minitualised satellite industry has been active at innovation by introducing advanced technologies available in private industries (by improving on introduction methods), thereby making it possible to produce light weight, small, and low cost satellites with high capabilities
– Other component technologies are increasingly becoming available in order to achieve ultra minitualisation of deep space probes
– Epsilon+4th satge may be able to send ultra miniture probes into orbits of Mars and beyond re. If increased from 50kg to 100kg they are still sufficiently light for dual (tandem) probing missions．

• PROCYON: 50kg class ultra small engineering test deep space probe

– Verification of ultra small deep space probe bus system and ultra close and high speed flyby approach to asteroid
– Collaboration between university teams and ISAS/JAX with a view to achieving new form of deep space exploration
– Piggy back launch on Hayabusa 2 is expected in December 2014

Ｐ-25

Posted by: Astro0 Apr 10 2014, 11:19 AM

Fantastic work Pandaneko. Thank you so much for translating all that information.

Posted by: pandaneko Apr 10 2014, 10:10 PM

Paolo, thanks again for this. Do we know anything more about Artsat 2. If 2 was there 1? What was it?
Also, Is the launcher of Hayabusa 2 still going to be H2A? I am confused because I realised during
the course of my translation that they may be using this Epsilon.

As far as I know its first launch was some time last year and I am not too sure if it is reliable.
Again, it is not that important, and I am only curiious. P

Posted by: Paolo Apr 11 2014, 05:26 AM

pandaneko, Artsat 1 was launched in February as a secondary payload in Earth orbit. they have a good https://www.facebook.com/artsat?ref=profile

Posted by: pandaneko May 24 2014, 10:57 PM

This really is just in case what follows has evaded the attention of colleagues so far.
I have come across an interesting short video describing activities for MASCOT.
Its URL is as follows.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbLmmvki_Bo

It is all German and yet it gives us an insight into the workings of this lander.
Actually, if you come to think about it this is all the more interesting because
with Hayabusa we had to imagine what the landing site looked like.

However, MASCOT will give us actual images and I am already very exited about this prospect. P

Posted by: vikingmars May 25 2014, 03:17 PM

Yes : thanks a lot Pandaneko for your translation. What an useful work !

Posted by: elakdawalla Jun 13 2014, 04:47 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZcLdvm_6lA (hat tip to Junya Terazono, who also posted https://twitter.com/kawauso_twi/status/477293810766995457/photo/1)

Posted by: Paolo Jun 14 2014, 04:16 PM

according to https://dnnpro.outer.jhuapl.edu/Portals/35/ISSFD24_Abstracts/ISSFD24_abstract_S2-4_Ozaki.pdf, a possible target for the PROCYON miniprobe would be 1999 JV6, a quasi-satellite of Earth in a 1-year orbit. flyby would be in March 2016.

Posted by: Paolo Jul 21 2014, 08:00 AM

PROCYON will be flying a lightweight Lyman-alpha camera for imaging the Earth's geocorona at increasing distances.
http://maxi.riken.jp/conf/allsky_diffuse/files/kameda_procyon.ppt

Posted by: pandaneko Jul 29 2014, 10:01 AM

Thanks, Paolo

I have started translating this PPT file. I will upload it when complete, perhaps in 10 days time, I think. P

Posted by: pandaneko Aug 6 2014, 03:20 AM

My translation of PROCYON ppt file is now complete, but I have a problem.

It is at 4.8 MB, and I tried to divide it into parts so that I can upload them as attachments.
One such was found to be still at 4.1 MB, containing only 3 pages. I will study sharing procedure,
but it will take time, my apologies. I am not good at IT at all. P

Posted by: elakdawalla Aug 6 2014, 03:37 AM

If you can email it to me at blog@planetary.org I can host it for you and post a link here.

Posted by: pandaneko Aug 6 2014, 08:05 AM

Thank you. I am much obliged. I will send the file to the society immediately after this.
Colleagues, please note that on the PPT file in question and on page 4 of it my notation is as follows.

with the left hand diagram

e=evening
m=morning
d=day time
n=night time

with the right hand diagram

N=north
S=south
n and d as above

Thank you once again. P

Posted by: elakdawalla Aug 6 2014, 04:28 PM

Here is the PROCYON ppt: "http://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/assets/resources/JAXA/PROCYON_camera_dev_LAICA.ppt," by Shingo Kameda et al.

Posted by: Cosmic Penguin Aug 31 2014, 11:49 AM

There was a media event earlier today that shows off the completed spacecraft. Launch date is still on "winter 2014" (December).....

I'm currently trying to find photos.....

Posted by: punkboi Sep 1 2014, 04:50 AM

Thanks to Emily:

http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2014/08311314-hayabusa-2-complete.html

Posted by: pandaneko Sep 30 2014, 03:17 AM

This is just in, from a lunch time NHK TV news here.

Hayabusa 2 will be launched on 30 November from Tanegashima space centre. So, that will be an H2-A
rather than the Epsilon, meaning a piggy-back, I think. P

Posted by: punkboi Sep 30 2014, 04:05 PM

Mission page updated with countdown clock... Very interesting to see the launch date being moved up!

http://global.jaxa.jp/projects/sat/hayabusa2/

Posted by: Paolo Oct 16 2014, 05:10 PM

four pictures of the ARTSAT 2 flight model have been posted on their https://www.facebook.com/artsat/posts/953502538009610 (hope the link will work...)

Posted by: pandaneko Oct 27 2014, 11:41 PM

My curiosity has vapourised thanks to a recent short newspaper article in the Yomiuri.

There was a similar article recently, which said that the H2A launcher will have a special
coating on its fuel tank and will rotate during its long flight in order to keep fuel loss to a minimum.
I was curious, "long?" , because usual 15 minutes did not seem too long to me, anyway,
but I did not bother to find out.

This Yomiuri article clarified it for me, as follows.

"On 20 October, MHI revealed to the press the H2A 26 launcher, which will be launched on
30 November with Hayabusa 2 on board.　It is a 2 stage rocket and its 1st stage is
37m long with 4m diamter and 2nd stage 11m long.

This time, it will take as long as 2 hours before spacecraft seperation in order to reach its
very distant target. In order to keep fuel loss to a minimum as the liquid hydrogen
vapourises inside the tank its 2nd stage fuel tank has been coated white."

I have been used to the launch of earth bound satellites. This article did not mention rotation, though. P

Posted by: pac56 Nov 19 2014, 04:02 PM

From the German Aerospace Center (DLR):
The MASCOT lander has been installed onto the Hayabusa-2 spacecraft:
http://dlr.de/blogs/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-7023/11643_read-775/

Building of MASCOT described here (in german):
http://dlr.de/blogs/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-7023/11643_read-746/

Posted by: pandaneko Nov 20 2014, 01:42 AM

There is a short article in today's Asashi (local newspaper) about the launch of Hayabusa 2.
In it I find that Hayabusa 2 will not come back into the atmosphere. Instead it will go away back into space.
Nobody has ever told me that. Did we know it? P

Posted by: elakdawalla Nov 20 2014, 01:59 AM

Some adorable http://gomiyazaki.deviantart.com/art/HAYABUSA-and-MASCOT-manga-495403503. Think I'll print these out and have my kids color them! The artist is Go Miyazaki.

Posted by: centsworth_II Nov 20 2014, 02:15 AM

I was confused with the "first" frame of that comic until I realized that it read from top RIGHT down and then top left down!

Posted by: pandaneko Nov 21 2014, 12:10 AM

I have since asked around amongst my friends here who are space matters interested.
None of them had known, and do by now. So, my guess is that the decision is
fairly recent. Perhaps, they at ISAS do not want to see the craft destroyed after a
good job (big assumption!).

I am being a typical Roman citizen and want to see the show, but then, yes,
it may be pity that the craft is lost that way. After all space itself may be a museum. P

Posted by: djellison Nov 21 2014, 12:13 AM

It may not be lost. Perhaps it could have a life beyond its prime mission like Stardust did.

Posted by: Paolo Nov 21 2014, 06:52 AM

that is also my impression. it could not have been done with Hayabusa because by the time it returned to Earth it was so badly crippled that it was essentially unusable

Posted by: pandaneko Nov 27 2014, 12:01 PM

There was a short TV programme this evening here on NHK. In it I noticed
two things. I am not sure if the first was new to me, but the second
was.

1. Mid-air explosion will be monitored by a small floating camera
while the main body hides away.

2. The sampler horn now has acute angled teeth all around
the inside edges of the opening which will touch the ground.
This is just in case the ball bearing fails to fire properly.

How do we know there are loose particles? If there is water then
the whole thing may be rock solid. That is my imagination. P

Posted by: Blue Sky Nov 28 2014, 04:14 PM

Given what happened on comet 67P, that may very well be the case.

Posted by: centsworth_II Nov 28 2014, 04:44 PM

Unless I'm wrong, the target of Hyabusa 2 is an asteroid and not a comet, and a very small asteroid at that, why this talk about ice? If the surface is rock hard, I would expect it it to be because it is rock, but loose material on the suface of asteroids and comets seems to be the rule rather than the exception so far.

Posted by: katodomo Nov 28 2014, 04:57 PM

1999 JU3 is a carbonaceous C-Type asteroid being thought to contain hydrated minerals and organic material, or by its spectrum at least a certain amount of water.

Itokawa, contrasting that, was a rocky S-Tye asteroid. Each Hayabusa mission (1,2,Mk2) is explicitly aimed towards a different type of minor body.

Posted by: centsworth_II Nov 28 2014, 05:39 PM

I guess one of the things Hayabusa will discover is if there is any water present apart from hydrated minerals, although I don't know how Hyabusa will look for volitile, free water in a sample.

Hyabusa 1's active collection system, "the bullet" failed, but there was some material collected passively. I looks like teeth have been added to enhance any passive collection, but hopefully the active system will work on Hyabusa 2. As I see it, the teeth can only help, not hurt in any eventuality.

Posted by: pandaneko Nov 28 2014, 10:24 PM

Launch has been postponed to a date late than 1 December,
due to expected bad weather. If successfully launched it would
be flying out like in the movie here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vq9vZhf79Zg

It is actually H2B-4, carrying cargo to ISS as seen from Okinawa,
but H2A-26 must be looking like that, I think. The movie is meant
to be an early Christmas illumination. The rocket appears to be
lonely, somehow... P

Posted by: pandaneko Nov 28 2014, 11:51 PM

The more I think about comets and asteroids the more confused I get.
What is the difference between them? The former are eccentric, dirty
snow man and the latter are rocky non-eccentric, OK, but is that all?

Can there not be tiny astronomical obecjts in the asteroid belt entirely
(100%) made up of ice? Equally, can there not be those entirely rocky
(100% rock) objects that have very eccentric orbits?

In fact, I seem to remember reading somewhere that there are
eccentric astroids that are dangerous, because detection is difficult.

All I seem to be saying is that there may be hybrids somewhere out there. P

Posted by: nprev Nov 29 2014, 01:30 AM

There are intermediate/transitional objects, Pandaneko. One example is 'asteroid' http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2013/27nov_rockcomet/.

Posted by: pandaneko Nov 29 2014, 03:30 AM

Thank you. Very interesting and informative, indeed. This pushes me
into thinking like;

Iron meteorites must mean that somewhere out there there are all metal
asteroids. Likewise, there must exist all ice asteroids somewhere. Flagments may fall
into the atmosphere, but they melt and leave nothing to suggest there are
all ice astroids.

In fact, there may be anything at all out there, all kinds of
unimaginable hybrid asteroids, I think. P

Posted by: nprev Nov 29 2014, 09:39 AM

Yep. Things in nature generally exist along a continuum. Re metal asteroids, check out http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn24793-astrophile-heavy-metal-asteroid-is-a-spacecraft-magnet.html#.VHmTvL6GylI.

Posted by: pandaneko Nov 29 2014, 10:47 AM

New launch schedule has just been announced. It is now set for
13:22:43 JST. P

Posted by: Paolo Nov 29 2014, 10:49 AM

and don't forget http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main-belt_comet, or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damocloid. not to mention the probable presence of water ice on the surface of Ceres, or the discovery of refractory materials in the samples from comet Wild 2.
it is becoming more and more clear that the difference between comets and asteroids is not as clear cut as it seemed up to 20 years ago, and that there is actually a sort of continuum between the two

Posted by: pandaneko Nov 29 2014, 12:15 PM

Silly me. The date is 1 December. P

Posted by: pandaneko Nov 29 2014, 12:58 PM

Thanks, Paolo

for making me aware of icy asteroids and metal asteroids.

To me, metals are easier to understand as they are elements.
Since our Sun is the only fusing body yet to explode our solar
system's metal asteroids (raw materials, at least) must have come
from inter galactic space (presumably as gaseous metals).

However, water is not an element and that makes me feel uneasy.
Can water be produced locally inside our solar system? Or, did water
also come from outside? Do we know at all? P

Posted by: katodomo Nov 29 2014, 02:22 PM

Those approximately 1900 yottagramm of iron beneath our feet would disagree with you there.

Posted by: Explorer1 Nov 30 2014, 12:18 AM

Good updated summary of the mission's early hours:
http://www.spaceflight101.com/hayabusa-2-mission-updates.html

Also a reminder near the bottom that there's more than just Hayabusa 2 being launched: a separate probe for a few flybys of other asteroids, a student-built technology demonstration, and an art project are all launching together!
Is this the first time multiple craft are being launched on interplanetary missions from a single launcher? Or is there some other precedent our resident space historians recall?

Posted by: elakdawalla Nov 30 2014, 12:25 AM

Well, JAXA's already done that with Akatsuki and IKAROS.

Posted by: pandaneko Nov 30 2014, 12:35 AM

Thank you. Yes, I should not be going too far back in time
under this category here. It is the festive season affectimg me, I think.

However, I would like to believe that there are non recycled metals
still left over from the early formation of our solar system and
that metalic objects are out there somewhere, formed not just from mantle
stripping. P

Posted by: Paolo Nov 30 2014, 08:33 AM

I think the first time multiple spacecraft were injected in independent, solar orbits with a single launch (via Moon flybys) was STEREO-A and -B in 2006. Akatsuki, IKAROS and Shin-en followed in 2010.
Of course there are a lot of other instances where multiple spacecraft (typically lander+orbiter) separated at the target.

Posted by: Paolo Nov 30 2014, 08:39 AM

by the way, launch is now postponed to December 3, 4:22:04 UTC
http://global.jaxa.jp/projects/sat/hayabusa2/index.html

Posted by: TheAnt Nov 30 2014, 09:40 PM

Hello there pandaneko

Well our current thinking is that nearly all materials that makes up the planets, moons and asteroids originated in a supernova long ago and got very much processed in the early accretion disk and subsequent collisions between objects both large and small.
So most materials is thought to have been quite reprocessed in the early age of the solar system.
The Sun have contributed very little, like the helium on the surface of the Moon.

You might get your wish for metallic objects though, if you don't mind the size, meaning interstellar dust grains.

Posted by: Explorer1 Dec 1 2014, 07:10 PM

What are the plans for giving 1999 JU3 to eventually get a 'real' name, like Bennu did? Haven't heard anything about a contest yet..

Edit: good news, looks like the LIPOVITAN-D tradition is alive and well:

https://twitter.com/ots_min/status/539667468675866624/photo/1

Posted by: pandaneko Dec 2 2014, 12:36 PM

Thank you. This is really sinking into me, particularly "early processing" bit. I wonder then if new arrivals are either
too energetic to be caught by our solar system, or our solar system is now too transparent (probably same thing?)
for them to accumulate here to form anything larger than grains? Thank you, anyway.

On a seperate matter, because I started my thinking about the teeth I now wish to go back there. One of the
advantages of being an amateur is wild imagination, I think, particularly in view of the festive season.

If evidence for water has been found then there must be water on that asteroid. On the other hand it is difficult
to imagine that there are ponds of 20m, 30m across on a small 900m asteroid. My guess is that the asteroid
is covered by frost (not smooth ice), all over. No loose pebbles or anything of that kind.

I want to see the pictures!!! P

Posted by: nprev Dec 3 2014, 04:15 AM

Launch coverage now live via spaceflightnow.com. Per my wife's translation, weather conditions are good, no equipment issues. T minus 8 min.

Posted by: Ron Hobbs Dec 3 2014, 04:22 AM

Go Hayabusa 2!!

Posted by: nprev Dec 3 2014, 04:30 AM

First stage cutoff & separation, second stage ignition. Looking good thus far.

Posted by: djellison Dec 3 2014, 05:07 AM

DSN Now should have AOS later.... 4 antennas are ready and waiting for it

http://eyes.nasa.gov/dsn/dsn.html

Posted by: nprev Dec 3 2014, 05:17 AM

Doug, if I'm reading Eyes right, is DSS 24 currently in listen mode for AOS?

EDIT: Correction: It looks like DSS 15 is receiving downlink!

Posted by: djellison Dec 3 2014, 05:20 AM

24, 25, 45 and 34 are all waiting for Hayabusa 2

From what I can see in the extended details - they're all ready to listen at 8.426 Ghz (X-Band) with I think 16kbps downlink and and 34 & 45 ready to uplink at 15.6 bps.

(15 is currently getting data from GeoTail, 43 Rosetta and 35 MRO and Mars Odyssey - updates are every 5 seconds)

Posted by: nprev Dec 3 2014, 05:23 AM

Love this Eyes application. I've never watched launch & early orbit comm ops before.

Posted by: Explorer1 Dec 3 2014, 06:19 AM

Just saw a quick clip of the separation! Very nice!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9TwlwZobc4

At 3 hours and 5 minutes.

Posted by: djellison Dec 3 2014, 06:39 AM

AOS

Posted by: Astro0 Dec 3 2014, 10:34 AM

AOS at CanberraDSN via DSS45 (background), with DSS34 a few moments later. GoldstoneDSN also acquired on time.

Posted by: Explorer1 Dec 5 2014, 04:27 AM

Sampler horn deployed!

http://www.jaxa.jp/press/2014/12/20141205_hayabusa2_j.html

Always great to see parts of a spacecraft to contrast with space. Imagine seeing the regolith of the asteroid just below during sampling....

Posted by: jekbradbury Dec 7 2014, 11:39 PM

As is DESPATCH/ARTSAT2, another of the microsatellites launched with Hayabusa2 (and described http://despatch.artsat.jp/en/Main_Page), according to its http://facebook.com/artsat.

The idea of bringing microsatellites along on deep space missions (or rather having them piggyback on Earth orbit departure maneuvers) opens up so many new opportunities, especially in outreach and technology development (ARTSAT is focusing on collaborative signal reconstruction from hundreds of amateur ground stations as an alternative to centralized downlink, and also includes a 3D printed sculpture designed at an art school).

Posted by: pandaneko Dec 8 2014, 12:53 AM

Thank you. This picture, I believe, was taken by a camera constructed by
private donations (me included) which amounted to JPY 26 million, especially for
Hayabusa 2. Other contributions were also invied by JAXA. The camera itself cost
JPY 12 million.

I learnt just recently from somebody's blog that Hayabusa 2 will be moored
at a Lagrangian point between the Sun and the earth. Apparently, it also was
JAXA's intention with Hayabusa 1.

I am not sure how reliable this information is. Media has said nothing of this kind,
so far. P

Posted by: elakdawalla Dec 8 2014, 04:26 PM

That's very interesting, about the spacecraft being sent to the Sun-Earth L1 point. Where did you read that? Can you add a link?

Posted by: elakdawalla Dec 9 2014, 11:06 PM

As Weywot suggested, http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.php?showtopic=7943.

Posted by: pandaneko Dec 15 2014, 01:59 AM

It was a blog entry. That is all I remember. I do not think I can find it again, I am afraid. However, I will try and
find more about this by some other means. If it is true there must be sometning more somewhere. P

Posted by: Blue Sky Dec 15 2014, 02:28 AM

Lingering at a Lagrange point seems very unlikely to me, considering the trouble they take slingshotting past Earth after one solar orbit to pick up speed just to get out to where the target asteroid is located.

Posted by: pandaneko Dec 15 2014, 02:29 AM

I have a link as follows.

http://global.jaxa.jp/article/special/hayabusareturn/kawaguchi02_e.html

It is actually Prof Kawaguchi mentioning it. If Hayabusa 2 has enough fuel left then reacing the L1 point
should not be that difficult? P

Posted by: pandaneko Dec 15 2014, 05:16 AM

Here is another mention of Hayabusa 2 parking.

http://techwatcher-asia.com/?p=339

It now looks like real. Other people seem to know and I did not! P

Posted by: Blue Sky Dec 15 2014, 06:21 PM

Ohhhh, they mean to park it at a Lagrange point after returning from the asteroid. That makes more sense.

The purpose appears not to be to conduct any particular science there, but to test the general idea of parking things at Lagrange points.

Posted by: pandaneko Jan 8 2015, 09:13 AM

http://www.jiji.com/jc/c?g=soc_30&k=2015010800392

Above link (Jiji.com) talks about a report that all 4 of the ion engines were tested at the very end of last year
and each ignited (?) properly and functioned for a few hours. They will soon test
combined use of ion engines. P

Posted by: stevesliva Jan 8 2015, 09:32 PM

ISEE-3 proved the feasibility leaving a lagrange point to visit small bodies. Not much to prove. I'd say the purpose is to wait for the team to find a feasible follow-on, or determine there is none.

Posted by: pandaneko Jan 30 2015, 08:23 AM

As of yesterday Hayabusa2 is doing well, so say the press here,
flying at 22 milliom km away, and will change direction in December. P

Posted by: Paolo Jan 30 2015, 10:05 AM

any news of the target body of PROCYON? it should have been selected by now

Posted by: pandaneko Jan 30 2015, 12:38 PM

Not really, a short article of 25 January only says that it is at about 20 million km away,
doing substem testings. Actually, their occasional English translations are very good.

Also, no news about hydrogen observation so far. All next week I will be away in
Borneo jungles. P

Posted by: Explorer1 Feb 9 2015, 01:51 AM

Status report from last week: all systems good so far.

http://global.jaxa.jp/projects/sat/hayabusa2/topics.html#topics3767

Posted by: Blue Sky Feb 9 2015, 03:44 AM

In a Q&A session posted earlier, it was reported that they were having difficulty deciding on a name for the asteroid. Naming "Itokawa" was easy, but they are still undecided about the final name for 199JU3. (JAXA proposing the name "Itokawa" is like NASA choosing the name "von Braun")

Posted by: pandaneko Apr 27 2015, 11:51 AM

Latest report from JAXA re earth swingby, it is now set to be on 3 December. P

Posted by: Explorer1 Jul 22 2015, 08:34 PM

The process of giving 1999 JU3 a proper name, subject to IAU rules has begun. Submissions being accepted:

http://global.jaxa.jp/press/2015/07/20150722_hayabusa2.html

Posted by: yoichi Oct 5 2015, 08:40 AM

http://global.jaxa.jp/news/2015/#news5842

Oct. 5, 2015 Updated
“Ryugu” was selected as name of Hayabusa2 target asteroid

Asteroid 1999 JU3, a target of the Asteroid Explorer “Hayabusa2,” was named “Ryugu”.
One major reason for the selection was that, in the Japanese ancient story “Urashima Taro”, the main character, Taro Urashima, brought back a casket from the Dragon’s palace, or the “Ryugu” Castle, at the bottom of the ocean, and the theme of “bringing back a treasure” is common as the Hayabusa2 will also bring back a capsule with samples. It was selected among 7,336 entries.
Thank you very much to so many of you who took part in the naming campaign.

Posted by: Explorer1 Dec 1 2015, 05:58 AM

A nice summary of the flyby (and the fate of the other payloads):
http://spaceflight101.com/hayabusa-2-asteroid-explorer-inbound-for-high-speed-earth-swing-by/

Posted by: pandaneko Dec 14 2015, 10:54 AM

According to the Yomiuri, a local Japanese newspaper with about 10 million circulation/day
Hayabusa 2 conducted an earth swingby successfully on 3 December and left its near earth orbit.

It is currently flying, as of midnight 14th December, 4.15 million km away from the earth,
at a speed of 32.31 km/second without problems.

Pandaneko (P)

Posted by: Explorer1 Dec 15 2015, 04:46 PM

Image of the southern hemisphere after closest approach here (edited for direct JAXA link):
http://www.hayabusa2.jaxa.jp/topics/20151214_e/

Posted by: Paolo Jan 17 2016, 01:18 PM

http://www.hayabusa2.jaxa.jp/topics/20151224_04_e/

Posted by: Explorer1 Feb 9 2016, 10:07 PM

English translation of spectrometer observations of Earth and moon.
http://www.hayabusa2.jaxa.jp/topics/20151228_02_e/
The former is wet and the latter dry, so all is well!

Posted by: PaulH51 Apr 26 2016, 08:29 AM

A new and informative YouTube video. Published by JAXA on Apr 24, 2016.

'Hayabusa2 Remote Sensing Instruments'. Runtime = 5min 55sec https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFh_pe3O_xM&feature=youtu.be

Posted by: pandaneko May 17 2016, 09:57 AM

Apparently, there is a new JAXA web page where you can look at Hayabusa2 position and the target position.

The article I found by chance said:

Right now, Hayabusa 2 is flying at 26.37km/second. Distance to earth at 11:00 on 17 May 2016 is approx. 2704x10,000
km, and the distance left is approx. 9820x10,000km.

P

Posted by: pandaneko Jan 2 2018, 03:54 AM

I have somehow associated the arrival timing of Hayabusa2 with the Olympic games in Tokyo in 2020, but I chance discovered last year
that Hayabusa2 will be arriving some time in the end of June to early July of this year.

During this period I will be walking again on the Flame Mountain in China west and from last year's experience in China
I will not be able to use internet properly. Shame...

Posted by: pandaneko Mar 1 2018, 01:18 PM

The asteroid is now coming into view.

Posted by: Paolo Mar 1 2018, 04:57 PM

in English: http://www.hayabusa2.jaxa.jp/topics/20180301_e/

Posted by: pandaneko Apr 14 2018, 12:52 PM

Apparently, Hayabusa 2 is now only at Moon-Earth distance from the asteroid. I remember it looked like a dot
only a month or so ago. Is Hayabusa 2 that fast?

P

Posted by: Phil Stooke Apr 14 2018, 01:52 PM

No, it's that slow. It will still take a month to reach Ryugu. With an ion engine you don't scream up to the target and then slam the brakes on!

Phil

Posted by: nprev Apr 15 2018, 04:18 AM

Yup. At current relative velocity as of right now, about 25.75 days to get there.

Still...getting close!

Posted by: pandaneko Apr 16 2018, 01:07 AM

There was an article in today's newspaper here. Students in the control room are being trained in more than 50
emergency operations using a model called Ryuguroid and the firing of the copper plate is scheduled
to take place in March next year (2019) with live (with 20 minutes delay) viewing.

I no longer remember the name of the first steroid. It was light in appearance, but this Ryugu is expected
to be dark.

P

Posted by: nprev Apr 18 2018, 12:46 AM

Hyabusa 1 visited asteroid Itokawa.

Posted by: pandaneko Apr 20 2018, 03:59 AM

There is a tiny article in today's local newspaper. Hayabusa 2 will arrive at Ryugu on 21 June and stop at 20km
above it The first landing (of what it does not say) will take place in September. My guess is that it is the battery
powered MASCOT, presumably befoe battery goes flat.

P

Posted by: pospa Apr 20 2018, 11:18 AM

Yep, it corresponds to the mission schedule here: http://www.hayabusa2.jaxa.jp/topics/mission_schedule/
Btw, H2 relative speed to Ryugu today is ~130 m/s at 250k km distance. http://www.hayabusa2.jaxa.jp/

Posted by: pandaneko Apr 20 2018, 12:46 PM

Thank you, Pospa. I realise that the web page of Hayabusa 2 project is not available in Engish, whic is surprising.
On it, I found that the project team has just today made available, a smaller web page with more technical
aspects, called "Haya 2 NOW" and that is also only available in Japanese. The entrance to it is clickable on the main
Hayabusa 2 web page. Once in there you see sections as you can see below. I translated them for interested followers.


A: Current date and time is shown to seconds. Time is the local time where access is being made, not Japan Standard Time.
B: Time lapse since launch time (L: 13:22:04 3 December 2014) is shown.
C: Time of data generation, local to Hayabusa 2.
D: Time of data acquisition, local to ground station.
E: Position of Hayabusa 2.
F: This will flicker while high gain antenna is being used. High gain antenna is disk shaped. Power consumption (bus power) is also shown.
G: View from ONC-W1. Rough position and size of Ryugu is shown as seen by ONC-W1 in the vicinity of Ryugu.
H: Antenna being used is shown.
I: Orientation of the middle gain antenna (MGA) is shown in degrees. Orientation can be changed, looking to the earth.
J: Status of transmitters on board Hayabusa 2. Power amp. mode (A or , transmission mode, bit rates, antenna connected
K: Signal strength, bit rate, antenna being used by the two receivers on borad Hayabusa 2 when receiving transmission from gournd station.
L: Cumulative duration of each of 12 chemical thruster firing in seconds.
M: UDSC64 refers to the antenna at Usuda station, aboout 30km from my mountain summer cottage. It is in use if wave like appearance is seen.
N: USC34 refers to the smaller antenna at Uchinoura Space Centre. Other anttenas around the world will also be shown when in use.

In addition to above, there is a button (square in shape) at the lower right of the dusplay . This is a transmission simulator for signals from here to Hayabusa 2. It will show how long transmissions will take.
Please enjoy Haya 2 NOW.

Hayabusa 2 Project team
20 April 2018

My guess is that G is perhaps the most interesting because there on the G window we may be able to see
something before publicity pictures appear in newspapers etc.

P

Posted by: pandaneko Apr 20 2018, 10:31 PM

Just to mention where exactly the entry point to Haya 2 NOW sub page. It is inside Hayabusa 2 project page which
Pospa carried, second web page, in particular. There, you find "Topics (information)" and there are tabs below it.
If you open the 4th tab from top you will find a diagram. Just above the diagram is a clickable portion,
"http://haya2now.jp/". It is in there.

What follows is the operational sequence as of yesterday.

10 January 2018/ Ion engine start (3rd period)
Early June Ion engine stop
Early June approach to 2500km
21 June to 5 July approach to 20km
End July approach to 5km
August gravity measurment device descend at 1km height
September to October Touch down operational slot 1
September to October Rover release operation slot 1 for rover release
November to December Joint operation (comms. break down)
January 2019 Approach to 5km
February 2019 Touch down operation slot 2
March to April Crater making operation
April to May Touch down operation slot 3
July Rover release operation slot slot 2
March to Novemver Stay close to Ryugu
Novemver to Decemver Departure

P

Posted by: Explorer1 Apr 21 2018, 03:39 AM

Wow, that's one of the neatest and most detailed mission websites I've ever seen, thanks for bringing it to our attention! It's going in my bookmarks even though I can't read Japanese...

Posted by: pandaneko Apr 21 2018, 05:30 AM

Adding a little more on the Haya2NOW diagram, please see below, translated labels.

Labels on the Haya 2 NOWdiagram

From left to light and at each point across from top to bottom

1. Below Hayabusa 2 diagram/ Bus power consumption
2. Below ONC-W1/On board navigational camera outline view
3. Below ANTENNA/antenna
4. Below MGA/(from top to bottom) middle gain antenna, azimuthal angle, elevation angle
5. Below Transmitter/(from top down) transmitter, transmission power amp.,
transmission mode, transmission bit rate, antenna in use
6. Below receiver/ (from top down) Receiver, recption signal level, bit rate, antenna in use
7. Below Thruster/Thruster firing cumulative duration in seconds
Below the diagram is the list of ground stations. Two stations in Japan have communication simulator. Canberra has one, but not other overseas stations.
At each station Hayabusa 2 position is given with ground station local time. I think azimuth and elevation is local orientation at each. Just below the time reads Hayabusa position and just below it from left to right is azmuth and elevation.

Just belw directional information there is a set of numbers, date and time, which I am not familiar with. Top top single character 出 means apperance, and 没 means , usually, sink, or possibly disappear. My guess is that they are related to local horizon at each station.
Below all this is the health of communication. Below it is the time of communication start at each station.
If you open one of the simulators you will find, top down, At the topmost is the caption, comms. simulator, then below CMD1 to 3 reads "Send CMD1" etc.
Finally, at the bottom is repeated positional information of Hayabusa 2 with time local at each station.

What I fail to understand is the simulator. I had a brief go at it and a number keeps going up and that is about
all I can see. Can anybody tell me what this is all about. I know and everybody knows that it s about 20 minutes
from here to there, so what is the use of this simulator?

P

Posted by: pandaneko Apr 24 2018, 01:08 AM

I know that there has been a kids contest about Ryugu's shape, but I am not too concerend about its shape.
Rather, I am becoming unsure of the success of the copper plate experiment. Below is the firiing video.

https://youtu.be/gmh2lGjXm7w

If Ryugu is very hard, then this copper firing ｍay not result in a big dip on the surface?

Somewhere, and I do not remember exactly where off hand, but somewhere within Hayabusa 2 web page,
there is a huge data set of numbers, all hayabusa 2's position, all free to be used for educational
purposes. Prof Yoshikawa there talks about possibe use of this data set, like, calculating the actual
discrepancy, from two body calculation for students.

P

Posted by: djellison Apr 24 2018, 05:17 AM

If you take that copper plate impact - and apply it to a rubble like surface, in basically zero-G - it'll do plenty of damage !

Posted by: pandaneko Apr 24 2018, 07:04 AM

Also, if I come to think about it, the mass of whatever contains the gun powder. Hayabusa 2 is something like
600 kg, I think, but Hayabusa 2 will hide away behind the asteroid when the firing takes place. Perhaps,
copper place is very thin?

P

Posted by: Caotico09 Apr 24 2018, 09:44 PM

This link provides a bit more information: http://www.muses-c.isas.ac.jp/kawalab/astro/pdf/2011C_8.pdf
Basically, the easiest way to think about it.
- Hayabusa 2 will orient in respect to the asteroid.
- The impactor (SCI) will deploy from the spacecraft.
- Hayabusa 2 will burn around the asteroid.
- The SCI will detonate.
- The resulting jet/projectile formed from the SCI will hit the asteroid, while the charge case/control system will fragment into space.


I dont have a space background, but i do have Shaped-Charge knowledge to comment somewhat. IMO the charge is large enough to do damage. In oilfield applications, a 0.025kg charge can punch a hole through ~13-45" of concrete or 4-9" of steel depending on type of charge and materials of liner. For reference, the SCI used on Hayabusa 2 is a 10lb (4.5kg) explosive with a 5.5lb (2.5kg) liner.

The use of copper (vs a denser material), as well as the demonstration video would point towards using an EFP. Think of it as shooting a 5lb bullet/missile at the asteroid at 2000m/s. It is going to do something.

The documentation/papers keep saying shaped charge (SC), an interesting question that i have is if they are actually using an EFP (explosively formed projectile). Larger applications (mainly military) work more like EFPs. In vary broad terms, the biggest difference is the angle of the liner (SC < 90, EFP > 90). The two function fundamentally differently however. The SC creates a high velocity 'jet' that stretches and can create a smaller diameter hole in a steel plate 150%-700% ID of charge (with the upper range being denser materials like high-%-tungsten). EFP's on the other hand basically reshape the metal liner to form a large fast moving bullet/warhead- these are MUCH slower, but make a less deep but broader impact.

Posted by: pandaneko Apr 25 2018, 12:47 AM

Thank you, caotico09, for the document and your comments particularly towards the last.
My take now then is that the copper plate momentum, much of it, will come largely from its velocity
and I am happierr with that thought. 15kg must be a lot heavier than the plate.

By the way, I saw somewhere, a high speed camera photo of the shape of the copper plate in flight.
It looked very much like a cylindrical Chinese dumpling.

P

Posted by: Explorer1 Apr 25 2018, 02:15 AM

The crater diameter should be determined much more easily than Deep Impact (any prize for most accurate guess?)

Posted by: pandaneko Apr 25 2018, 02:50 AM

What followd is the test firiing range movie.

https://youtu.be/lWnl_G3_N1Y

P

Posted by: monty python Apr 25 2018, 04:10 AM

The hole created could be fairly deep too!

Posted by: nprev Apr 25 2018, 10:50 PM

Wow! That is a LOT more powerful than I'd expected!

Posted by: Phil Stooke Apr 28 2018, 03:16 AM

174000 km today! We are still sneaking up on Ryugu. I don't know when the first resolved image will be taken, but probably in the next couple of weeks or so.

Phil

Posted by: pandaneko Apr 29 2018, 01:55 AM

Tokyo to London is 12 hours, so Hayabusa 2 is half the speed of an international flight, landing gear is not out yet, it is slow, very...

P

Posted by: pandaneko Apr 30 2018, 06:08 AM

I have noticed something else on the main page of Hayabusa 2.

Marked with an yellow square is , apparently, the delay time in outbound/inbound
flight. As of today, it is 1941 seconds. What does it mean?

P

Posted by: charborob Apr 30 2018, 10:39 AM

It means the time it takes for electromagnetic waves to make the round trip from Earth to Hayabusa 2 and back.

Posted by: Phil Stooke May 9 2018, 07:40 PM

Schedule of mission events at the asteroid:

http://www.hayabusa2.jaxa.jp/topics/mission_schedule_e/

Phil

Posted by: PaulH51 May 10 2018, 10:19 AM

Cool list of activities, sounds like a lot of interesting events... Wishing them the best of luck

Posted by: pandaneko May 14 2018, 12:14 AM

Thank you Charborob. I thought that it might be somehow related to the flight time. It is some time sice I last looked at the relative
velocity. A few weeks ago it was 100m/s and now it is now down to 60m/s. That must mean that the ion engines are pointing to Ryugu. It makes
me uneasy because by the look of the diagram both telephoto (once used to catch a glimpse of the asteroid, about 5,6 weeks ago?) and
the wide angle cameras are pointing perpendicular to the flight direction.

Haya2 web page shows that it is now the wide angle camera in use, but it is not looking forward, yet, I think. Display window is totally
dark. I was hoping that Haya 2's display window will show us continous image of approaching Ryugu, but it seems very unliklely,
unless they use chemical thrusters on and off for us. How soon will we be seeing anything at all?

P

Posted by: Explorer1 May 14 2018, 01:19 AM

They already confirmed where Ryugu was back in February, they would have to stop firing the engines to turn the craft and take pictures. They will wait to be close enough to resolve it, presumably.

Posted by: pandaneko May 14 2018, 08:04 AM

I have had a look at a radar image of the target asteroid for OSIRIS-REX. The image looked a bit wobbly, but it looked just like those
comments made about it, its shape in particular. And, presumably, by triangulation and experience with mereorites they can
estimate its mass.

I have seen comments that not much is known about Ryugu. How then did they estimate the escape velocity for MASCOT? My guess is
that the design velocity is far below the thinkable upper limit, so that MASCOT is not lost into space after its first hop?

My general cuoriosity is simply, how do they know anything at all about these asteroids from such a distant place like earth.

P

Posted by: pandaneko May 16 2018, 08:48 AM

There is a consolation, after all, except that we do not know when it will be.

Haya2's pop-up for the display window translates as follows:

"Asteroid position and size. In the final stage of approach to Ryugu Hayabusa 2 will be showing approaching Ryugu
in the display window."

Very irritating. They could tell us roughly when it will be. Very bad PR activity, I think. Anyway, the relative velocity is now
down to 50m/s.

P

Posted by: Hungry4info May 16 2018, 10:43 AM

15 May 2018. Star-tracker has detected Ryugu.

http://www.hayabusa2.jaxa.jp/topics/20180515_e2/

Posted by: pandaneko May 18 2018, 12:43 AM

There is a short article about Hayabusa 2 on today's local newspaper here. JAXA told the municipality of Sagamihara where
ISAS (part of JAXA) is located. Students in ISAS control room are operating Hayabusa 2. It confirms that the arrival of
Hayabusa 2 (apparently to the altitude of 20km) is 21 June (as opposed to a longer window starting from 21 June).

P

Posted by: pandaneko May 20 2018, 07:18 AM

Below really is for myself.

As of 20 May the relative velocity is 180km/h, already slower than shinkansen trains. The distance to be closed is
38,000km, about two round trips bet. Tokyo and London. If this speed is maintained Hayabusa will reach Ryugu in
8.8 days, i.e. before the end of this month.

How soon it is to slow down further remains to be seen.

P

Posted by: Phil Stooke May 23 2018, 11:20 PM

Less than 24000 km to go! But who's counting? (hint: me!)

Another new world about to be revealed. This is going to be a very cool mission.

Phil

Posted by: pandaneko May 24 2018, 06:41 AM

24 May (144km/h): 16/11/18/10/15/13/19/8/9/9/7/8

I want to continue , for some time to come, with this above to see if it is useful. This is the speed of Hayabusa 2
with chemical thrusters cumulative burn time (numbers are rounded). Neither Hayabusa 2 nor Haya2 web page
indicates significant changes in the flight in an easy to understand manner, so I decided to monitor what chemical
thrusters are doing.

It may be that only ion engines are used until Hayabusa 2 comes to a halt and in that case no significant changes
will have been made to above matrix of numbers (right now only one row). This matrix will continue to build up unil
it is 7 rows. If nothing has happned by that time a new matrix will appear wih its first row being the latest
input into Hayabusa 2 web page.

That way, we may be able to know when the landing gear is out.

P

Posted by: pandaneko May 25 2018, 02:37 AM

24 May (144km/h): 16/11/18/10/15/13/19/8/9/9/7/8
25 May (144km/h): 16/11/18/10/15/13/19/8/9/9/7/8

No change, yet...

P

Posted by: nprev May 25 2018, 03:34 AM

Is the landing gear supposed to deploy THIS early? Thought it was going to spend some time in orbit surveying the asteroid before attempting to touch down.

Posted by: Phil Stooke May 25 2018, 03:54 AM

just an analogy? Does it even have landing gear? I think the drogue chute might be enough.

Phil

Posted by: nprev May 25 2018, 05:35 AM

The landing gear would be for touchdown on the asteroid, I think. Return capsule should indeed be just the aeroshell & chute, no legs.

Posted by: pandaneko May 25 2018, 09:38 AM

I am unsure as it is now such a short distance to the target, but point taken and I will do it in my backyard!

P

Posted by: pandaneko May 26 2018, 02:10 AM

I have been using "landing gear being out" to mean a significant reduction in speed. My matrix was
a means to feel the onset of slowing down, but overnight from yesterday to this morning
Hayabusa2's speed went down from 144km/h to 108km/h, and it is pretty clear, I think, that
the breaking power of ion engines alone is good enough to make Hayabusa2 to come to a halt
without relying on chemical thrusters.

I am excited to see this asteroid!!! 加油！！！

P

Posted by: Explorer1 May 26 2018, 02:52 AM

Me too! Though I wonder if the there is still a Lipovitan-D tradition among the team members. There will be some complex manouevres ahead, and they should start stocking up soon.

By my count (from http://spaceflight101.com/hayabusa-2/hayabusa-2/) , there are three mini-rovers (MINERVA-II), a lander (MASCOT), an impact module/projectile, a deployable camera, and 5 target markers! Do I have that correct? By the time we humans are through with Ryugu, it will be littered with our detritus! All in the name of science of course...

Posted by: pandaneko May 28 2018, 08:27 AM

There is a twitter tag on the main Hayabusa 2 web page and what follows is the translation of the latest input as
of 27 May.


27 May @haya2_jaxa (by IES elder brother, sic)

We occasionally receive questions like:

1. Are ion engines being used for acceleration or decceleration?
2. Are we now approaching with RCS (chemical thrusters)?
3. Are you looking with your cameras everyday?

We answer as follows.

HY2 is approaching Ryugu from within the Ryugu orbit by enpanding HY2 orbit outwardly.

We are at the very last stage of navigation and we are firing the ion engines into the acceleration direction.
Consequently, there are times when HY2 speed increases momentarily (conversely, meaning a longer orbital
period in the longer run, leading to a decreased flight velocity, which is a very interesting aspect of orbital
dynamics)

As a result, matching of HY2 orbit and that of Ryugu becomes better and the relative distance between them
decreases.

We are also conducting optical navigation using cameras. However, "keeping Ryugu in field of view" and
"IES firing in the right direction" are contradictory to each other.

Naturally, we will be using cameras rather extensively during the final approach after ion engines are stopped.
‏
Optical navigation while ion engines are fired was conducted during 12 to 14 May (strictly speaking engines were
stopped while taking photos).

The result of this operation will be used for subtle orbit correction during the very final approach.
That is about all for now and we will try our best in the final approach!

P

Posted by: pandaneko May 28 2018, 11:40 AM

I have found something else.


http://fanfun.jaxa.jp/countdown/hayabusa2/files/sat33_fs_20.pdf

This is a fact sheet compiled by Hayabusa 2 project team and this latest version, ver. 2.0 is dated
19 April 2018. It is a 120+ page pdf document in Japanese. There is a table of relative distance to Ryugu.
According to this table, ion engines will be stopped on 5 June at a distance of 2500km from Ryugu.

P

Posted by: pandaneko May 28 2018, 11:56 AM

According to the latest JAXA fact sheet on Hayabusa 2 the mission after Hayabusa 2 is a solar powered sail boat
to Jupiter.

P

Posted by: Explorer1 May 28 2018, 01:59 PM

Less than Earth's diameter in distance now... getting very close now!

Posted by: mcmcmc May 30 2018, 01:52 PM

A total amount of 11 separable payloads!
3 MINERVA-II rovers (1a, 1b, twins; 2, bigger)
1 MASCOT rover
1 Impact module (SCI)
1 deployable camera (DCAM3)
5 target markers

Rovers locomotion systems:
http://www.dlr.de/pf/Portaldata/6/Resources/lcpm/abstracts/Abstract_Nagaoka_K.pdf
http://www.astro.mech.tohoku.ac.jp/~nagaoka/papers/2016isairas_knaga1.pdf

I can't (yet) find info about DCAM3 propulsion system.

Mission status:

https://aliveuniverse.today/rubriche/mission-log/3387-hayabusa-2-approccio-a-ryugu

http://www.hayabusa2.jaxa.jp/

Posted by: pandaneko May 31 2018, 12:49 AM

According to JAXA ion engines will be stopped on 5 June at a distance of 2500km from Ryugu. That means Hayabusa 2 has 4800km
left to cover with ion engines. Right now, the relative velociyt is 72km/h and if this velocity is kept Hayabusa 2 will arrive at 2500km
point some time on 3 Junem, which is too early for the ion engines.

That in turn presumably means that the velocity at 2500km point is almost zero. I would have thought that there will be some
residual velocity so that chemical fuels are spared, but it looks like they are going to use chemicals. That is perhaps when my little matrix
may become handy only for once, momentarilly. It is looking like below now.

24 May (144km/h): 16/11/18/10/15/13/19/8/9/9/7/8
25 May (144km/h): 16/11/18/10/15/13/19/8/9/9/7/8
26 May (108km/h): 16/11/18/10/15/13/19/8/9/9/7/8
27 May (108km/h): 16/11/18/10/15/13/19/8/9/9/7/8
28 May (108km/h): 16/11/18/10/15/13/19/8/9/9/7/8
29 May ( 72km/h): 16/11/18/10/15/13/19/8/9/9/7/8
30 May ( 72km/h): 16/11/18/10/15/13/19/8/9/9/7/8
31 May ( 72km/h): 16/11/18/10/15/13/19/8/9/9/7/8

P

Posted by: mcmcmc May 31 2018, 07:38 AM

Landing gear?
There is no landing gear, neither on Hayabusa nor in the rovers:
http://www.asahi.com/special/rocket/hayabusa2_3d/

Downloadable model: http://win98.altervista.org/hayabusa2/hayabusa2-original.zip

"Rovers" are just "rollers": boxes with internal "misbalanced weight", moved to change center of mass and make the rovers move/roll around.

Updated status:

6800 km to go
20 m/s
1898 s roundtrip communication time


Where do you get historical data?

Posted by: pandaneko May 31 2018, 07:52 AM

The data comes from Haya2 web page.

http://haya2now.jp/ Haya2NOW

The 12 (rounded) numbers are for 12 thrusters, 1 to 12 from left to right. The table on Haya2 is difficult to read when one or two thrusters
are used. That is why I wanted to line them up for easy detection of changes.

However, once chemical engines are used this table will become useless. It is ony meant for early detection of the use of chemical
thrusters. I am keeping a log and hope that I will be able to detect the onset of very final approach.

P

Posted by: pandaneko Jun 1 2018, 10:00 AM

From the fact sheet of JAXA we know that they will start using chemical thrusters on 5 June at the 2500km point and that must
mean that cameras will be facing Ryugu.

Although the camera with Haya2 web page is a wide angle camera I think they will use the telephoto camera when Hayabusa 2
reaches 2500km point. From the specs of the telephoto camera my estimate is that Ryugu will be only about 10 pixels altogether.

It is not much, still only a dot size, is it not? I want to see a bigger picture!!!

P

Posted by: pandaneko Jun 4 2018, 03:06 AM

As at 12:00 on 4 June JST Hayabusa 2 web page carries a note which says:

Data is being swapped

This is the best translation I can think of.

P

Posted by: Paolo Jun 4 2018, 05:58 AM

http://www.hayabusa2.jaxa.jp/topics/20180604_e/

there are also frequent updates (in Japanese) on the mission twitter profile https://twitter.com/haya2_jaxa

Posted by: mcmcmc Jun 4 2018, 07:30 AM

For resolution calculations:
ONC-T: 1024x1024, 5.7°x5.7°
ONC-W1: 1024x1024, 60°x60°
ONC-W2: 1024x1024, 60°x60°
MASCOT: 1024x1024, 55°x55°
DCAM3: 2000x2000, 74°x74°

Posted by: pandaneko Jun 4 2018, 08:06 AM

Thank you, Paolo. I opened up Japanese web pages, just about everywhere. There are lots and
lots of congratulatory remarks, but no important information on flight operation itself. In the
meantime, my little matrix is looking like (its usefulness is now over),

31 May ( 72km/h): 16/11/18/10/15/13/19/8/9/9/7/8
1 June ( 36km/h): 16/11/18/10/15/13/19/8/9/9/7/8
2 June ( 36km/h): 16/11/18/10/15/13/19/8/9/9/7/8
3 June ( 36km/h): 16/11/18/10/15/13/19/8/9/9/7/8
4 June ( ?km/h): 16/11/18/10/15/13/19/8/9/9/7/8

I did not know they stopped ion engines as early as 3 June, so Hayabusa 2 must be coasting at
36km/h now. They can now turn the satellite so that we can look into the right direction.

I wonder how soon theywill do it for us.

P

Posted by: mcmcmc Jun 4 2018, 08:46 AM

English translation of http://haya2now.jp/:

http://win98.altervista.org/hayabusa2/Haya2NOW.html

It can't show data, but it's useful for easier usage of original page.

Posted by: pandaneko Jun 4 2018, 09:53 PM

Radio silence, well, almost...

Due here, I think, is a little poem in traditional Japanese Haiku way.

Hayabusa 2

Doubling Ryugu to

Christmas

P

Posted by: pandaneko Jun 5 2018, 05:59 AM

1 June ( 36km/h): 16/11/18/10/15/13/19/8/9/9/7/8
2 June ( 36km/h): 16/11/18/10/15/13/19/8/9/9/7/8
3 June ( 36km/h): 16/11/18/10/15/13/19/8/9/9/7/8
4 June ( ?km/h): 16/11/18/10/15/13/19/8/9/9/7/8
5 June ( 9.2km/h): 16/11/18/10/15/13/19/8/9/9/ 8 /8

As we can see thruster 11 was used for one second. I will stop carrying this matrix here now
as we know that we are really into the final stage.

P

Posted by: mcmcmc Jun 6 2018, 06:58 AM

Questions?
http://planetary.jp/hayabusa2/FAQ/index.html


Upcoming press conference:

http://fanfun.jaxa.jp/jaxatv/detail/12042.html

Posted by: pandaneko Jun 6 2018, 09:34 AM

Thank you, mcmcmc

The deadline for questions was 1 June, but I looked into Qs&As and found some are interesting. Some are more technical than you may
think, coming from amateurs. I will translate some over the next 10 days or so. After all, there is not much else I can usefully do.

In the meantime I now know from my log that 6 of the 12 chemical thrusters have been fired over the last 36 hours.

I will also translate the contents of tomorrow's press conference, if there is something interesting or new to us.

P

Posted by: mcmcmc Jun 6 2018, 12:10 PM

I didn't read anything about end date, so I tried compiling the form and it was accepted, so let's see.
Anyway there are several questions dated after 1 june.


That would be great, thanks.

Posted by: pandaneko Jun 7 2018, 04:25 AM

What follows is an extrat from JAXA Q&A collection. More will follow during the next few days.

Q. When will we be able to see the shape of Ryugu?
June 03, 2018 - : 64 year old

A. We will be abe to see the rough shape in mid June. We can find its precise shape when
Hayabusa 2 arrives at the asteroid and get data. If the axis of rotation is not perpendicular to
the plane of the ecliptic it will take longer to get the whole view of Ryugu, meaning that it may
be up to a few months before we know its precise shape.

Q. What is the prediction by the project team about Ryugu's water?
June 02, 2018 - : 14 year old

A. Water will not exist in the form of liquid or solid water. Water molecules will be contained in the
minerals of Ryugu. So, we will not be finding Ryugu to be wet or affected by moisture in any way.

Q. When can we see clear pictures of Ryugu?
June 02, 2018 - : 47 year old

A. It will be when we get to Ryugu. Rough shape, we will be seeng in mid June.

P

PS. I realise that questions were perhaps accepted even after the deadline of 1 June,
by the look of the dates here.

Posted by: mcmcmc Jun 7 2018, 07:43 AM

Press conference outcome (in japanese):
http://fanfun.jaxa.jp/jaxatv/files/20180607_hayabusa2.pdf

Posted by: pandaneko Jun 7 2018, 08:08 AM

Following URL has shapes and appearances of Ryugu as imagined by those people in the project
team.

http://www.hayabusa2.jaxa.jp/topics/20180605/

Each picture is numbered, and 4 to 10 (this 10th fellow is the person who does the twittering),
12 to 37 are all those people in the team.

Since the volume of the press conference itself is rather a lot I will translate only some of them.

P

Posted by: pandaneko Jun 7 2018, 08:26 AM

On page 13 of the press conference report there is a picture of Ryugu as seen at 04:15 JST on
6 June by the telephoto camera, ONC-T.

Shape is unknown, exposure time of 0.09 second, one pixel is
equivalent to 22 arc second, 0.3 km at 2600km distance.

There are interesting remarks in this press report, most of it is already known to us, but there
are new inputs. I will translate them very soon.

P

Posted by: pandaneko Jun 7 2018, 08:31 AM

According to the same JAXA press report of today there will be another press conference on
14 June with more detailed information. The arrival time is thought to be 27 June, but it may
be a few days earlier or few days later than 27th, according to this report.

P

Posted by: pandaneko Jun 7 2018, 08:43 AM

P6
Current status:
　－2100km as of today, 7 June
　－Ion eigines stopped on 3 June for onward journey
　－Arrival expected to be 27th June +/- few days
　－Optical navigation is underway
P7
・Delta V since 10 January is 393m/s
・Outward operation of the ion engines is now over
・24 kg of zenon consumed, 42kg still remains, total delta V is 1015m/s
P10
・Optical navigation means approaching with camera views
・Reason for above: cordinate uncertainty of about 220km

These are the new (at least to me) inputs in the press conference report about current status
of Hayabusa 2.

P

Posted by: mcmcmc Jun 7 2018, 08:45 AM

Posted by: pandaneko Jun 7 2018, 09:07 AM

Ryugu is not symmetrical, is it? Top one third looks darker.

P

Posted by: mcmcmc Jun 7 2018, 10:06 AM

Future repositories for images?
http://www.darts.isas.jaxa.jp/pub/hayabusa2/onc_bundle/l2a/
http://www.darts.isas.jaxa.jp/pub/hayabusa2/onc_bundle/browse/l2a/

Source:
http://www.darts.isas.jaxa.jp/pub/hayabusa2/onc_bundle/browse/

Posted by: fredk Jun 7 2018, 01:54 PM

Almost impossible to say yet. If Ryugu's centre is a bit below the centre pixel you'd expect the upper pixels to be darker than the bottom ones.

Posted by: Paolo Jun 7 2018, 05:01 PM

http://www.hayabusa2.jaxa.jp/topics/20180607_e/

Posted by: Phil Stooke Jun 7 2018, 06:27 PM

"Ryugu is not symmetrical, is it? Top one third looks darker."

The important thing about this is that you can never trust the appearance of a pixel right on the edge of something. We have no way of telling how much of that pixel is covering Ryugu and how much is covering the black space around it. Usually people assume that you need at least 3 pixels across something to interpret it. In this case that would be 3 pixels across that dark-looking area (about 10 pixels across the asteroid). If it still looks dark then, we know it's dark!

Phil

Posted by: mcmcmc Jun 7 2018, 06:29 PM

Press conference documentation in english:
http://www.hayabusa2.jaxa.jp/topics/press/doc/Hayabusa2_Press20180607e.pdf

Posted by: pandaneko Jun 8 2018, 12:18 AM

Q&A continues.

Q. How do you approach Ryugu? My guess is that you first place Hayabusa 2 on the same planar orbit as Ryugu
and then slowly adjust the curvature. Is that right?

Since there is a mass difference speeding up of Hayabusa 2 in trying to catch up with Ryugu may lead to
overshooting. How can you make sure it will not happen?
June 03, 2018 - : 64 year old

A. We conducted an earth swing-by on 3 December 2015 and that was for Hayabusa 2 to move into the same
orbital plane as Ryugu.

After that over 2.5 years we fired ion engines on and off so that Hayabusa 2's orbit becomes closer to that of
Ryugu.

That is to say, we tried to enlarge Hayabusa 2 's orbit little by little. Here, the mass difference is irrelevant to
this operation.

We, however, need to take into account, pull by the Sun, and pull by other planets, in addition to the solar rays
pressure on Hayabusa 2.

In the final stage we need to take into account Ryugu's gravitational pull. That is why we will be conducting
a free fall to 1km height. Hayabusa 2's speed varies depending on where it is flying, maximum speed is
somethinglike 33km/s and slowest is 23km/s.

P

There will be more Q&As.

Posted by: pandaneko Jun 8 2018, 04:44 AM

Q&A continues.

Q. Sampled materials are likely to be organic in origin. Do you store them in a fridge like place until they
reach Earth? June 03, 2018 - : 58 year old

A. There is no fridge in Hayabusa 2 capsule. It is assumed that the surface temp. on Hayabusa capsule reached
3,000 degrees C.

However, the temp. inside the capsule was kept at less than 100 degrees C. You may think that 100 degrees C
is too high, but the surface temp. on Itokawa was as high as 100, so, there was not much problem.

With Ryugu we think that the surface temp. will be similar, so there is no fridge. We can measure the surface
temp. of Ryugu accurately with the mid infra red camera.

P

Posted by: pandaneko Jun 8 2018, 05:05 AM

Q&A

Q. There were many troubles with Hayabusa 1's flight. Have you had similar problems this time?
June 03, 2018 - : 19 year old

A. With Hayabusa 1 reaction wheels broke down. They control attitude. There were 3 of them on Hayabusa 1.
One broke before arriving, and another broke immediately after arrival. In addition, one of the four ione engines
on 1 was not in good health, right from the start.

With 2, there has not been any major problem, so far. There are 4 reaction wheels and all of them are healthy.
Also, all 4 of the ion engnines are healthy and mission continues according to original design.

P

There are a little more Qs and As. One thing I came to realise is that rather a lot of xenon
still left is perhaps for moving Hayabusa 2 to its eventual parking position, L2?, L3?, I do not remember,
but I do remember the parking issue JAXA talked about with Hayabusa 1 before they had to burn it
with adiabatic compression.

Posted by: Paolo Jun 8 2018, 05:13 AM

there was a paper at the 2016 IAC Congress (paper no. IAC-16.C1.5.11) on Hayabusa 2 mission extension. four candidates for an NEA flyby have been identified, with the best being 630 m (172034) 2001 WR1, for a flyby on 27 June 2023

Posted by: pandaneko Jun 8 2018, 07:36 AM

Accordning to the log I have been keeping all chemical thrusters, except #2, #4, and #8 have been
fired since 1 June.

P

Posted by: pandaneko Jun 9 2018, 12:14 AM

Q&A continues. This is the last in the Q&A box, but JAXA seem to be accepting questions at any time and I may find some more
in due course.

Q. Do you have a plan to make a movie of touch down using an on-borad camera?
June 02, 2018 - : 21 year old

A. This monitor camera was made thanks to the donation from people like you. Therefore, if possible, we would like to make such a movie.

However, there will be all kinds of delicate operational issues during touch down and it is possible that we may not be able to do that,
but we will try our best.


P

Posted by: nprev Jun 9 2018, 01:44 AM

A touchdown movie would be truly spectacular; hope they can manage it!

Posted by: pandaneko Jun 9 2018, 01:07 PM

From the twitter portion of Hayabusa 2 main web page.

8 June 2018

First TCM01 during optical navigation was conducted. We fired thrusters several times during 12:30 to 13:40 on 8 June, and
accelerated Hayabusa 2 by 24cm/s in minus X, 5cm/s in minus Y, and 14cm/s in plus Z directions. Consequently, the relative distance
is now 1900km, velocity 2.35m/s

6 June

LIDAR was powered on after 2 year long crusing to check its health. We did it step by step, Each command response needs 32
minutes for confirmation. Altogether it took us 5 hours to complete this checking. We cannot use it yet as the distance is still too
large for the LIDAR.

P

Posted by: mcmcmc Jun 9 2018, 07:12 PM

Misleading translation? It looks like H2 actually slowed down:

https://aliveuniverse.today/rubriche/mission-log/3387-hayabusa-2-approccio-a-ryugu

Posted by: Phil Stooke Jun 9 2018, 08:19 PM

Probably a matter of frames of reference. The spacecraft needs to match speed with the asteroid in orbit around the Sun. Speeding up slightly in its orbit around the Sun might reduce its velocity with respect to Ryugu. I don't know the details, but that is most likely what is going on.

Phil

Posted by: pandaneko Jun 10 2018, 12:03 AM

For clarification of the cordinate system I refer to page 16 of JAXA FACT sheet ver2.0, dated 19 April.

-X direction: where star tracker is pointing, as well as the re-entry capsule

-Y direction: where ONC-W2 is pointing, W2 is looking perpendicular to star tracker direction
+Y direction: where ion engines are pointing

+Z direction: is the direction of the earth because I can see two Ka band disk anntenae are pointing and it is opposit to
-Z direction: where sampler horn is pointing

My guess is that ONC-W2 is the donation camera.

P

Posted by: pandaneko Jun 10 2018, 05:21 AM

This perhaps has something to do with my earlier translation about acceleration.

"We are at the very last stage of navigation and we are firing the ion engines into the acceleration direction.
Consequently, there are times when HY2 speed increases momentarily (conversely, meaning a longer orbital
period in the longer run, leading to a decreased flight velocity, which is a very interesting aspect of orbital
dynamics)

As a result, matching of HY2 orbit and that of Ryugu becomes better and the relative distance between them
decreases."

P

Posted by: pandaneko Jun 10 2018, 09:40 PM

I am not sure if this diagram reflects real situation, but it seems to me that at 1000km dishes will be pointing to us on earth
without having to turn the the satelite. Image size at 2500km was something like 3x3, so at 1000km we may be looking at
something like 50 pixels, and that may be something, no? Surely, JAXA will be tempted to take a few photos, no?



P

Posted by: nprev Jun 11 2018, 12:49 AM

I'm sure they will for navigational purposes, but they may not be of much interest otherwise. Should provide a crude approximation of the shape, though.

Posted by: pandaneko Jun 11 2018, 07:48 AM

TCM-2 done at 1300km, no more sideway thrusts needed. Ryugu is right in front of Hayabusa 2.

P

Posted by: pandaneko Jun 11 2018, 08:48 AM

I want to see satelites around Ryugu, just one will do...

P

Posted by: Gustavo B C Jun 11 2018, 11:29 AM

JAXA http://www.hayabusa2.jaxa.jp/topics/20180611b_e/, now from 1500 km away, taken yesterday. Still can't discern a shape, but it's now at -5.7 magnitude:

Posted by: mcmcmc Jun 11 2018, 12:09 PM

June 10th, 1500 km away:

178 seconds exposure

Current resolution: http://win98.altervista.org/telescopio.html

Posted by: Phil Stooke Jun 11 2018, 05:49 PM

The latest image is over-exposed (or at least, processed to clip the histogram), rather than 'very bright' as the report suggests. But it's not completely washed out. There is a tiny bit of variation in the bright pixels. So maybe these are the first hints of surface features! Here's a version of the image processed to show the detail. Now, it could still be true that this is an artifact, but based on past experience with first glimpses of new worlds, I think it may be real. The dark spot is not completely symmetrical.

Phil

Posted by: mcmcmc Jun 11 2018, 05:53 PM

The shot lasted 178 seconds w.r.t. 0.090 of the darker one.

Posted by: pandaneko Jun 12 2018, 07:52 AM

I have not actually seen any of the staions in action before, but here it is. Apparently they had been at it for half an hour when
I opened the Haya2 web page. Thank yo, Goldstone!!!

P

Posted by: pandaneko Jun 12 2018, 08:09 AM

Tyring to find out where Hayabusa 2 will be after return to the earth I searched i vain for clues in JAXA Facts sheet of April this year, and
I could not find anything there. Instead, I came across a few interesting remarks about Hayabusa 2 itself.

Not exactly completely new discoveries to many of us here, but I will carry them soon, becaiuse after all it is still popcorn time before
the main film starts, I think... and also, some people here must be very busy to notice minor things.

Here again, I really wish there were a few mini mini satelites around Ryugu, small ones, like bascket ball size... They will be cute!

P

Posted by: pandaneko Jun 12 2018, 08:11 AM

The darker patch in the middle is a volcano?

P

Posted by: mcmcmc Jun 12 2018, 09:23 AM

I was just thinking about this: won't the SCI impact create a persistent cloud of debris orbiting around Ryugu? I think not all of the fragments will cross escape velocity.

Ore, there is maybe another possibility: rather than creating a crater, a 2kg copper bullet (around 6x6x6 cm) shot at 2 km/s could pass through the whole asteroid, if it is just a "pile of rubble" with almost no gravity to keep pebbles and sand and ice together...

Posted by: pandaneko Jun 12 2018, 01:14 PM

I have been wondering how, from the plane on which ONC-W2 is located, on earth W2 can view anything of Ryugu and I have found
an answer to that. W2 is the donation camera. W2 can look down, not vertically downward, but at an angle. See the diagram!

P

Posted by: mcmcmc Jun 12 2018, 01:51 PM

Very interesting and detailed video about all the cameras (visible, IR) onboard, with 3d visualizations of FOVs:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFh_pe3O_xM

Posted by: Phil Stooke Jun 12 2018, 05:17 PM

"The darker patch in the middle is a volcano?"

Pandaneko, see the earlier post - you can't tell what something is unless there are many pixels across it. Here, one pixel is very slightly darker than those around it. Probably there is a small dark spot inside that pixel - a dark marking or shadow - much smaller than the pixel but big enough to make it, on average, a bit darker. No interpretation is possible yet. And my dark marking MIGHT just be an artifact. I think it's not but it might be.

But this is a testable hypothesis. When we get closer, and can see clearly, and know how the asteroid rotates, we will be able to figure out which bit of the asteroid was facing the camera when this image was taken. Then we can see if this is real or not.

(also - tiny rocks don't have volcanoes)

Phil

Posted by: mcmcmc Jun 12 2018, 06:40 PM

This is the BIGGESTof the rovers/landers, MASCOT.
Minerva-II rover B is half this size, Minerva-II rovers A1 and A2 are quarter this size!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbLmmvki_Bo

Posted by: pandaneko Jun 13 2018, 01:21 AM

On Hayabusa 2 main web page the flight path is horizontally exergerated 10 times for emphasis. There is a caption to that effect
on the same diagram.

P

Posted by: pandaneko Jun 13 2018, 06:23 AM

Why is it that flight path segments are not straight?

P

Posted by: mcmcmc Jun 13 2018, 06:53 AM

https://twitter.com/haya2e_jaxa/status/1006669149832077312

Posted by: centsworth_II Jun 13 2018, 07:43 AM

Flight path corrections? (Oh, if you are referring to the arch shape of the sections, given the complexities of orbital dynamics which I understand not at all, I'm surprised they are not some wierd corkscrew shape!)

Posted by: pandaneko Jun 13 2018, 09:45 AM

What follows are the minor points I discovered on Hayabusa 2 Fact sheet of April

1. Chemical thrusters:
From lessons learnt from the failure with Akatsuki and Hayabusa piping system has been improved

2. Target marker is now 5 instead of 3 with Hayabusa. The idea of non-bouncing target markers comes from traditional Japanese toy
for girls called "Otedama". See still photos and a short movie. Edible beans are contained in these cloth wrapped objects.

https://goo.gl/XzawBr still pictures

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHDwIL6CAIc short movie


3. Stay length: 18 months instead of 3 months with Hayabusa.

4. Samplings: 2 from surface and 1 from impact site

5. LIDAR: Not just a range finder, also finds topology, gravity, albido(spelling uncertain), range is 30m to 25km

6. ONC-W2 (donation camera) has the same specs as ONC-W1, 1mm/pix at 1m height

7. Rare gas sampling: Metal seal method so that rare gas can be brought back.

8. Sample containers: increased to three from two on Hayabusa

9. Sampling horn has an acute angle ring shaped gutter piece all around the opening so that 1-5mm grains can be accomodated
on touch down. Sudden stop in upward motion may move them into sample containers.

10. DCAM: Low resolution but real time analogue camera and high resolutioon digital camera. They are completely seperate systems
on DCAM. Battery life is 3 hours and comms. range is 10km.

11. Simultaneous interferrometric measurements of Hayabusa 2 position

Japan-Goldstone (east-west) and Japan-Cambbera (north-south) as the base lines greatly contributed to the co-ordinate accuracy
of Hayabusa 2

P

Posted by: pandaneko Jun 13 2018, 10:36 AM

They have changed the display appearance of the flight path on Hayabusa 2 main page to suit the actual display in their control room.

P

Posted by: mcmcmc Jun 13 2018, 12:34 PM

After examining source code of JAXA page, I found this raw data file about Hayabusa position:
http://www.hayabusa2.jaxa.jp/hy2sc2/data/hy2_trj.txt

I don't know if "data before today" are real recorded data, or if all of these data are just simulated...

Also found these data for Ryugu, in case anyone is interested:
HY2TRJ.Storage.Ryugu = new Orb.Kepler({
"gm": 2.9591220828559093*Math.pow(10,-4),
"argument_of_periapsis":211.4366,
"eccentricity":0.1902973,
"epoch":2458200.5,
"inclination":5.88397,
"longitude_of_ascending_node":251.58914,
"mean_anomaly":305.97003,
"semi_major_axis":1.1895874

It would be interesting to check if both data groups will be updated in next days.

Posted by: pandaneko Jun 13 2018, 11:52 PM

By the look of it next straight ahead is at around 600km when Hayabusa 2 becomes tangential to its planned
flight path. I am running out of my popcorn...

P

Posted by: Marcin600 Jun 14 2018, 03:05 AM

From press conference
 2.bmp ( 2.1MB ) : 576

Posted by: Marcin600 Jun 14 2018, 03:12 AM

Posted by: Marcin600 Jun 14 2018, 03:40 AM

Ryugu seems quite similar to the anticipated shape model.
If the Sun was right behind the ship, it seems that there is a brighter area on the right and a darker one on the left. But these can be artifacts

Posted by: mcmcmc Jun 14 2018, 07:34 AM

New press conference held yesterday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9nw3bli_Io&t=33s


Presentation in Japanese, lot of veryu interesting info! (Probably English version is coming soon)
http://fanfun.jaxa.jp/jaxatv/files/20180614_hayabusa2.pdf

Posted by: MahFL Jun 14 2018, 08:41 AM

Google Translate seems to do a good job translating each slide.
One slide says the image of the asteroid is now 10 pixels across, was 3.

Posted by: mcmcmc Jun 14 2018, 08:49 AM

Last time I spent hours in copying each slide in google and translating... then the day after they issued the english version.
So I'll wait. :-)