- Hayabusa 2
Hayabusa 2 is the follow on mission to the
Hayabusa mission as proposed byJAXA .Hayabusa is an engineering test mission to test technology for sample return from an asteroid. It was launched in 2003 by theM-V rocket and reached its target25143 Itokawa during the second half of 2005.Hayabusa was able to verify some technologies and could explore its target at close range. However during the final touchdown attempt some problems occurred which made the trip home for the satellite very difficult and uncertain. Also it is not known if a sample could be gained.The aim for Hayabusa 2 is to build up on the legacy of the original mission, by strengthening the shown weak points. Currently the target is asteroid
1999 JU3 with a proposed launch during 2011-2012. Operations at the asteroid will be similar to the previous Hayabusa, and a small landing robot, MINERVA-2, will be deployed.Funding problems and International Cooperation
Hayabusa 2 was agreed by the SAC during 2006 and was announced in the new year interview with
JAXA president Keji Tachikawa. [http://www.jaxa.jp/article/interview/vol27/p3_e.html] However, funding for FY 2007 was insufficient. On October 2007, Jaxa announced that they would seek a partner which would provide a launch vehicle for the probe while they abandoned to use anH-2A due to the lack of funds.On January 2008,
Italian Space Agency (ISA) approached Jaxa as to their interest in the plan in which ISA offered aVega rocket in exchange for attaching their instruments to the probe. Jaxa will make a reply by the summer of 2008.The French space agency might build an instrument for the Hayabusa 2. [http://www.prime-intl.co.jp/expsympo/material/P_8_1_Favier.pdf]
Successor
It was planned to follow Hayabusa 2 with an even more advanced mission called
Hayabusa Mk2/Marco Polo . In 2007 this mission was included into the proposals for ESAsCosmic Vision program as a possible JAXA-ESA cooperation.External links
* [http://www.jspec.jaxa.jp/e/activity/hayabusa2.html Asteroid explorer Hayabusa]
* [http://ilws.gsfc.nasa.gov/china_jaxa.pdf Agency’s Report from ISAS/JAXA]
* [http://www.space.com/news/070412_nss_jaxa_space.html Japan Eyes Expansive Space Exploration Agenda] SPACE.com
* [http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/recon2006/pdf/3038.pdf TECHNOLOGIES FOR FUTURE ASTEROID EXPLORATION: WHAT WE LEARNED FROM HAYABUSA MISSION.]
* [http://earth2007.jtbcom.co.jp/session/pdf/P226/P226-010_e.pdf Development of New Sampling Devices for Solar System Small Body Sample Return Program in the Hayabusa Era]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.