On November 20, Japan launched the unmanned Hayabusa spacecraft into space with the mission of returning the first rock samples from a small asteroid named Itokawa, located nearly 300 million kilometers from Earth.
According to the plan, the spacecraft was set to approach the asteroid at a distance of 40 meters and then descend to an altitude of 17 meters. Subsequently, the spacecraft was to fire a metal projectile onto the surface of the asteroid to collect ejected rock samples. However, Hayabusa did not achieve the required distance. Japanese scientists are currently working to redefine the target and are considering a second landing attempt this Friday. The cause of the aforementioned failure remains unclear.
H.G (Kyodo)
