JAXA Team Opens Hayabusa Asteroid Capsule, Finds Whiff of Gas
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JAXA Team Opens Hayabusa Asteroid Capsule, Finds Whiff of Gas
http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2...finds-trace-gas
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>The Hayabusa spacecraft landed in the Australian outback on June 13, after a seven-year space journey. It is the hope of JAXA, Japan's space agency, that the capsule Hayabusa is carrying contains a sample taken from asteroid Itokawa. If so, this will be the first sample of asteroid material ever returned to Earth by a space mission.
Now, the process of opening the capsule to see what's inside has begun.
The presence of a low-pressure gas inside the capsule has already been detected, the agency is reporting. The nature of the gas, and whether it's of extraterrestrial origin, has not yet been determined.
The opening of the capsule is expected to take a week or more, though JAXA has not stated whether this is due to prudence on the part of the scientists or simply being unable to pry the darn package open.</div>
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<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>The Hayabusa spacecraft landed in the Australian outback on June 13, after a seven-year space journey. It is the hope of JAXA, Japan's space agency, that the capsule Hayabusa is carrying contains a sample taken from asteroid Itokawa. If so, this will be the first sample of asteroid material ever returned to Earth by a space mission.
Now, the process of opening the capsule to see what's inside has begun.
The presence of a low-pressure gas inside the capsule has already been detected, the agency is reporting. The nature of the gas, and whether it's of extraterrestrial origin, has not yet been determined.
The opening of the capsule is expected to take a week or more, though JAXA has not stated whether this is due to prudence on the part of the scientists or simply being unable to pry the darn package open.</div>
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Hayabusa has been an interesting mission. I remember when it landed on Iktowa(sp?) and took the sample.
IF they have a sample, and they find something valuable in it there's a good chance that it'll spark interest in mining space rocks.
IF they have a sample, and they find something valuable in it there's a good chance that it'll spark interest in mining space rocks.