Design World

  • Home
  • Technologies
    • ELECTRONICS • ELECTRICAL
    • Fastening • joining
    • FLUID POWER
    • LINEAR MOTION
    • MOTION CONTROL
    • SENSORS
    • TEST & MEASUREMENT
    • Factory automation
    • Warehouse automation
    • DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
  • Learn
    • Tech Toolboxes
    • Learning center
    • eBooks • Tech Tips
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
    • Webinars • general engineering
    • Webinars • Automated warehousing
    • Voices
  • LEAP Awards
  • 2025 Leadership
    • 2024 Winners
    • 2023 Winners
    • 2022 Winners
    • 2021 Winners
  • Design Guides
  • Resources
    • Subscribe
    • 3D Cad Models
      • PARTsolutions
      • TraceParts
    • Digital Issues
      • Design World
      • EE World
    • Educational Assets
    • Engineering diversity
    • Trends
  • Supplier Listings
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe

Japanese spacecraft may have dust from asteroid

By atesmeh | July 8, 2010

(AP) — Japanese scientists say they have detected tiny particles collected by the first spacecraft to return to Earth after landing on an asteroid. But determining if the dust came from the asteroid or was picked up by the spacecraft on its return trip could take months.

Material found in the Hayabusa spacecraft’s sample collection compartments could offer insight into the creation and makeup of the solar system.

The capsule landed successfully in the Australian Outback last month after a seven-year, 4-billion mile (6-billion kilometer) journey despite a series of technical glitches that raised worries that the mission could fail.

Project chief Junichiro Kawaguchi said Wednesday a small number of mostly microscopic particles were found and dust from the asteroid was likely among them. But he said it was also suspected that contaminants from Earth may have been mixed in.

“We need to determine their origin,” he said, adding that could take months.

Experts from NASA and Australia are also involved in the project.

Hayabusa, launched in 2003, reached an asteroid called Itokawa in 2005. After taking photos from all angles of the 1,640-foot (500-meter) -long asteroid, Hayabusa landed on it twice in November 2005. The spacecraft then limped home after developing a fuel leak and losing contact with Earth for seven weeks.

It was the first spacecraft ever to successfully land on an asteroid and then return home.

The craft was designed to shoot a bullet into the surface of the asteroid that would crush and propel material through a long tube into a sample collection container. There is no certainty the bullet actually fired, scientists say, but they believe the impact of the tube’s landing would have forced some material upward and into the collection chamber.

JAXA, the Japanese space agency, said the aim of the $200 million project was to understand more about the origin and evolution of the solar system. Scientists hope to study how and when the asteroid was formed, its physical properties, what other bodies it may have been in contact with, and how solar wind and radiation have affected it.

Kawaguchi said the successful collection of samples from an asteroid could be used as a building block for future efforts to mine minerals or other resources from planets and bring them back for use on Earth. He said Japan is already considering another asteroid mission.

“This is a first step,” he said. “Continuing with what we have learned from this project will be important to build on our knowledge.”

If Hayabusa is indeed carrying asteroid samples, it would be only the fourth set of space samples returned in history – including moon matter collected by the Apollo missions, comet material by Stardust, and solar matter from the Genesis mission.

You Might Also Like


Filed Under: Aerospace + defense

 

LEARNING CENTER

Design World Learning Center
“dw
EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND STAY CONNECTED
Get the latest info on technologies, tools and strategies for Design Engineering Professionals.
Motor University

Design World Digital Edition

cover

Browse the most current issue of Design World and back issues in an easy to use high quality format. Clip, share and download with the leading design engineering magazine today.

EDABoard the Forum for Electronics

Top global problem solving EE forum covering Microcontrollers, DSP, Networking, Analog and Digital Design, RF, Power Electronics, PCB Routing and much more

EDABoard: Forum for electronics

Sponsored Content

  • Widening the scope for machine tool designers with FORTiS™ enclosed encoder
  • Sustainability, Innovation and Safety, Central to Our Approach
  • Why off-highway is the sweet spot for AC electrification technology
  • Looking to 2025: Past Success Guides Future Achievements
  • North American Companies Seek Stronger Ties with Italian OEMs
  • Adapt and Evolve
View More >>
Engineering Exchange

The Engineering Exchange is a global educational networking community for engineers.

Connect, share, and learn today »

Design World
  • About us
  • Contact
  • Manage your Design World Subscription
  • Subscribe
  • Design World Digital Network
  • Control Engineering
  • Consulting-Specifying Engineer
  • Plant Engineering
  • Engineering White Papers
  • Leap Awards

Copyright © 2025 WTWH Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media
Privacy Policy | Advertising | About Us

Search Design World

  • Home
  • Technologies
    • ELECTRONICS • ELECTRICAL
    • Fastening • joining
    • FLUID POWER
    • LINEAR MOTION
    • MOTION CONTROL
    • SENSORS
    • TEST & MEASUREMENT
    • Factory automation
    • Warehouse automation
    • DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
  • Learn
    • Tech Toolboxes
    • Learning center
    • eBooks • Tech Tips
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
    • Webinars • general engineering
    • Webinars • Automated warehousing
    • Voices
  • LEAP Awards
  • 2025 Leadership
    • 2024 Winners
    • 2023 Winners
    • 2022 Winners
    • 2021 Winners
  • Design Guides
  • Resources
    • Subscribe
    • 3D Cad Models
      • PARTsolutions
      • TraceParts
    • Digital Issues
      • Design World
      • EE World
    • Educational Assets
    • Engineering diversity
    • Trends
  • Supplier Listings
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
We use cookies to personalize content and ads, to provide social media features, and to analyze our traffic. We share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising, and analytics partners who may combine it with other information you’ve provided to them or that they’ve collected from your use of their services. You consent to our cookies if you continue to use this website.