Hayabusa Post-Landing & Science Results Options

[nprev]

The capsule began its return to Japan a few moments ago as I write this. Seems like a good time to start a new topic for the much-anticipated final results of this epic mission.

[tasp]

Amazing news!

Hayabusa, the little spacecraft that could, and DID!

I really appreciate the excellent updates we are getting here. Front row seat for a very wonderful mission.


Did anyone see the capsule recovery picture in Aviation Week and Space Technology? The technician had quite a bit of protective gear on to safe the pyros. Incredible accuracy in the landing, I am not sure I could have found that little capsule in my own yard, let alone the wilds of Australia!

(yeah, we are having a wet year and I am behind on my mowing)

[pandaneko]

I had a quick look at JAXA web pages, no, none ablout this and the last update is still 24 June.

Since there are two NASA scientists and one Australian scientist at ISAS at the moment they must have sent mails to respective organisations and it might be quicker to find something there.

Pandaneko

[pandaneko]

I had a quick look at all other major newspapers and they all carry this story.

One thing that annoyed me was in the Yomiuri Shimbun article about it. It said that the cannister is thought to have hundreds of Earth origin particles in the first place. How then the Asahi and others carry such stories?

Are the grains different at a glance? Did they check the inside of the cannister before launch for distinguishing them from possible new comers?

Still, Asahi carried this news on their front page, so there must be something...

Pandaneko

[pandaneko]

One thing that annoyed me was in the Yomiuri Shimbun article about it. It said that the cannister is thought to have hundreds of Earth origin particles in the first place. How then the Asahi and others carry such stories?


Pandaneko

I have had another look at this morning's Asahi newspaper. It does not say at all that they found "hundreds of grains". In fact, the whole thing seems contradictory given my earlier findings.

1. Prof M Yoshikawa of ISAS said that if there are many grains found in the cannister they will immediately know that they are of Itokawa origin.

2. If as Yomiuri says "hundreds of Earth grains" are supposed be be in there in the first place they would have found them on inspection and Prof Yoshikawa would have announced that they are from Itokawa despite the fact that they are from Earth.

3. Asahi said that they found a very small number of very small grains.

So, my impression is that they did find a small number of suspicious grains, after all. That is my guess. After all, they must have baked it and rinsed with highly volatile liquid. There cannot possibly be hundreds of grains still left in it before launch...

Pandaneko

[pandaneko]

3. Asahi Shimbun newspaper said that they found a very small number of very small grains.

Pandaneko

I have had a look at an article carried by the Nihon Keizai Shimbun about grains found. It is an equivalent to the Financial Times in the UK. It does mention the possibility of co-existing grains, but it does not mention "hundreds of grains" found in there.

What it said is that the found grains are individually transfered into separate bottles, by a needle as thin as those used for inserting genes into biological cells, for better analysis.

It says that the analysis will take more than a month. I hope that my continued postings will not get a red card one of these days. If I am putting up too much by now I would like to be given a warning...

Pandaneko