Mission: Hayabusa 2 Options

[spdf]

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

[Paolo]

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...

[spdf]

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.

[pandaneko]

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.

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

[pandaneko]

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

[pandaneko]

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

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

[pandaneko]

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