A Japanese space probe apparently succeeded in landing on an asteroid yesterday and collecting surface samples in an unprecedented mission to bring the extraterrestrial material back to Earth, but afterward showed signs of trouble, Japan's space agency said.
The probe, now hovering about 5km from the asteroid, appeared to be shaking vertically due to problems with its thruster, according to spokesman Atsushi Akoh of Japan's space agency JAXA.
The agency would put the probe into "safety mode" to investigate, Akoh said.
PHOTO: AP
JAXA announced earlier yesterday that the Hayabusa appeared to have touched down for a few seconds on the asteroid -- floating 290 million kilometers from Earth -- to collect powder from its surface before lifting off again to transmit data to mission controllers.
"The process of sampling also seems to have gone very well," said another JAXA spokesman, Kiyotaka Yashiro.
But the agency won't know for sure if Hayabusa collected surface samples until it returns to Earth. It is expected to land in the Australian Outback in June 2007.
If all goes well, it will be the first time a probe returns to Earth with samples from an asteroid, according to JAXA. A NASA probe collected data for two weeks from the asteroid Eros in 2001, but did not return with samples.
Hayabusa's feat "contributes greatly to the exploration of space by mankind," Iwao Matsuda, the state minister in charge of science and technology, said yesterday in a statement.
Yesterday's landing on the asteroid was Hayabusa's second, following a faulty touchdown last Sunday. JAXA lost contact with the probe during that attempt and didn't even realize it had landed until days later -- long after Hayabusa had lifted off into orbit.
The space agency hopes that examining asteroid samples will help unlock the secrets of how celestial bodies formed, because their surfaces are believed to have remained relatively unchanged over the eons, unlike larger bodies such as the planets or moons.
Hayabusa fired a metal projectile shortly before 8 am Japan time , suggesting that the asteroid had landed and collected the dust that was kicked up. The whole procedure was over in a matter of seconds, as planned.
"It is only a very small amount of material, powder really," Yashiro said.
Hayabusa was launched in May 2003 and has until next month before it must begin its journey home.
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