Hayabusa about to return to Earth

[Faithfree]

In a few minutes time I will go outside with the hope of seeing Hayabusa flaring through the atmosphere, hopefully with some fragments of asteroid Itakawa safely aboard. I doubt if I will see anything as I figure the re-entry trajectory is possibly up to 1000 km north of me, but at a couple hundred kilometres up its still a maybe - but the curvature of the Earth will probably say no. If all goes to plan it should ultimately land in the desert in the middle of South Australia.
http://www.jaxa.jp/projects/sat/muses_c/index_e.html
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010 ... 925877.htm

[Faithfree]

In a few minutes time I will go outside with the hope of seeing Hayabusa flaring through the atmosphere, hopefully with some fragments of asteroid Itakawa safely aboard. I doubt if I will see anything as I figure the re-entry trajectory is possibly up to 1000 km north of me, but at a couple hundred kilometres up its still a maybe - but the curvature of the Earth will probably say no. If all goes to plan it should ultimately land in the desert in the middle of South Australia.
http://www.jaxa.jp/projects/sat/muses_c/index_e.html
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010 ... 925877.htm

Saw bugger all as expected.

[Feck]

It's raining motor bikes ?

[newolder]

In a few minutes time I will go outside with the hope of seeing Hayabusa flaring through the atmosphere, hopefully with some fragments of asteroid Itakawa safely aboard. I doubt if I will see anything as I figure the re-entry trajectory is possibly up to 1000 km north of me, but at a couple hundred kilometres up its still a maybe - but the curvature of the Earth will probably say no. If all goes to plan it should ultimately land in the desert in the middle of South Australia.
http://www.jaxa.jp/projects/sat/muses_c/index_e.html
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010 ... 925877.htm

It is expected that the probe will be visible from 450 kilometres on either side of its flight path.[27]

link

Any webcams nearby?

[Faithfree]

In a few minutes time I will go outside with the hope of seeing Hayabusa flaring through the atmosphere, hopefully with some fragments of asteroid Itakawa safely aboard. I doubt if I will see anything as I figure the re-entry trajectory is possibly up to 1000 km north of me, but at a couple hundred kilometres up its still a maybe - but the curvature of the Earth will probably say no. If all goes to plan it should ultimately land in the desert in the middle of South Australia.
http://www.jaxa.jp/projects/sat/muses_c/index_e.html
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010 ... 925877.htm

It is expected that the probe will be visible from 450 kilometres on either side of its flight path.[27]

link

Any webcams nearby?

The fireball is apparently being filmed from observer aircraft: http://www.itwire.com/science-news/spac ... spacecraft (but the links don't work )

Still waiting to hear if the fireball was observed as expected.

I don't know the trajectory precisely, but I'm pretty sure I'm outside the 450 km visibility range.

[Faithfree]

The main craft disintegrates in the atmosphere as expected. The bright dot travelling ahead is the sample return capsule.

[PsychoSerenity]

Ooooooh Pretty lights!

[JimC]

From today's Age:

Asteroid probe lands in Outback June 14, 2010 - 8:08AM

A Japanese space probe carrying dust samples from an asteroid has landed in the South Australian outback.

The probe landed just before midnight, central standard time, the Australian Science Media Centre confirmed.

After travelling six billion kilometres in seven years, the Hayabusa explorer incinerated on re-entry after jettisoning a capsule expected to contain the first asteroid dust ever collected, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said.

The capsule parachuted to Earth within the Woomera Prohibited Area, a remote military zone 485km northwest of Adelaide.

Scientists hope to retrieve the capsule today and it will then be sealed in an airtight vessel and taken to Japan for study.

Hayabusa, the $US200 million ($235.74 million) project launched in 2003, landed on the asteroid in 2005 and is believed to have collected samples of material from the surface that may shed light on the solar system's origin and evolution.

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.

Hayabusa was originally due to return to Earth in 2007, but a series of technical glitches -- including a deterioration of its ion engines, broken control wheels, and the malfunctioning of batteries -- forced it to miss its window to manoeuvre into the Earth's orbit until this year.

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

Preliminary analysis of the samples will be carried out by the team of Japanese, American and Australian scientists in Japan. After one year, scientists around the world can apply for access to the asteroid material for research.

So, it seems to be so far, so good, just need to find it now...

[Rum]

The things we can do these days can still amaze me. What a fantastic achievement this is. Go to an asteroid, get a piece of it and land safely.

[JimC]

The things we can do these days can still amaze me. What a fantastic achievement this is. Go to an asteroid, get a piece of it and land safely.

"And, as the researchers open the capsule, a glowing purple mist pours out, engulfing all present. They remain still for a moment, then turn to each other, their eyes glowing an eerie purple. They march in unison out of the room..."