Hayabusa

is the name of a Japanese spacecraft which was sent into space to collect a sample of material from a small near-Earth asteroid named 25143 Itokawa.

The mission was a project of the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science of the University of Tokyo.

Hayabusa was sent into space on May 9, 2003.JAXA,  "Catalogue of ISAS Missions" ; retrieved 2012-4-2. In November 2005, it landed on the asteroid.  The mission was successfully completed in June 2010 when the spacecraft returned to earth in June 2010.Ryall, Julian.  "Asteroid Probe Set to 'Collide' With Earth," National Geographic, 11 June 2009; retrieved 2012-4-24.

Mission
Hayabusa studied Itokawa's shape, spin, topography, colour, composition, density, and history. The Hayabusa mission was the first time that an attempt was made to bring an asteroid dust sample to earth for analysis.Amos, Jonathan. "Hayabusa asteroid-sample capsule recovered in Outback," BBC News, 14 June 2010; "Two-Way Asteroid Trip Takes Off,"  Astrobiology Magazine, May 12, 2003; retrieved 2012-4-24.

In popular culture
Three different feature-length films are being made about the Hayabusa mission.Shoji, Kaori. "In a galaxy not so far away....,"  Japan Times, 23 September 2011; Nishida, Kensaku.  映画「はやぶさ」３社競う　足踏み日本、自信回復の願い (Film 'Hayabusa', 3 companies compete), Asahi shinbun, 12 July 2011; retrieved 2012-4-24.

References 

Further reading




 Other websites 

 Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA),Hayabusa (Muses-C) mission profile 

Category:Japanese space program
Category:Spacecrafts launched in 2000s
Category:21st century in Japan