Mission statement: A mission to help evaluate the performance of thermal protection systems during fast Mars-like hypervelocity entries of spacecraft. Hayabusa Re-entry MAC is an international multi-instrument aircraft campaign, sponsored by NASA and in close collaboration with JAXA and the University of Southern Queensland, to measure the physical conditions during the 12.2 km/s entry of the Hayabusa Sample Return Capsule over Australia, in June of 2010.
NEWS BLOG
Feb 1, 2010 - JAXA and NASA mission managers are meeting at JPL in a 2-day meeting to discuss the Hayabusa reentry and the reentry observations.
Jan 14, 2010 - JAXA announced today that Hayabusa is now on a path to enter Earth's gravity sphere in June. The Figure shows how the orbit is gradually changed by the continuously running ion engines. The red line is the final trajectory aimed for. Figure: Courtesy of JAXA. [More here]
Jan 7, 2010 - Instrument P.I. David Buttsworth (University of Southern Queensland in Toowoomba), NASA project manager Jay Grinstead (NASA Ames), and Principal Investigator Peter Jenniskens (SETI Institute), from left to right, met with DC-8 aircraft operators at the NASA Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility at Palmsdale, California, to start the preparations for the Hayabusa SRC Entry observing campaign. Photo: Frank Cutler.
Dec 6-7, 2009 - Participating researchers are meeting at the University of Khartoum, Sudan, to discuss research into the origin and nature of asteroid 2008 TC3, which crashed in the Nubian desert in Northern Sudan on October 7, 2008. Two months after the crash, meteorites were recovered by students and staff of the University, during a dedicated search on December 6. Now, one year after this find, scientists will share their results with the students and will compare data, in search of understanding the nature and origin of the ureilite parent body in the asteroid belt. Following a 2-day workshop, the scientists return to the field in an attempt to increase the diversity of the recovered meteorites. More here.
Nov. 19, 2009 - Still alive. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has been studying
measures to deal with the anomaly detected in one of the ion engines
aboard the Asteroid Explorer "HAYABUSA" as reported on November 9,
2009. As a result, the project team has come up with a recovery
operation plan, and the project decided to resume the operations,
while carefully watching the status of the ion engines. The project team
has concluded the spacecraft can maintain the current return cruise
schedule back to the earth around June of 2010, if the new engines
configuration continues to work as planned. More here.
Nov. 09, 2009 - After a glitch last week, Hayabusa has lost another ion engine, now having only one working engine remaining. The failed engine "D" was operating since February and was expected to continue operation until March 2010 in order to reach Earth by June of 2010. Officials are now evaluating the possible return course. No word yet if this excludes a June 2010 return of Hayabusa. More here.
Nov 04, 2009 - Dr. David Buttsworth of the University of Southern Queensland in Toowoomba, a hypersonics researcher, is to lead an Australian observing team during the Hayabusa SRC reentry MAC mission. Buttsworth uses spectrometers on a regular basis to investigate radiating hypersonic flows in air, Titan and other atmospheres in the X2 expansion tunnel of the University.
Oct 28, 2009 - Mission scientists are meeting at the C.E.A.S. meeting in Manchester, U.K., to discuss the results from the ATV reentry observing campaign.
Sep. 23, 2009 - NASA has allocated funding for an airborne mission involving NASA's DC-8 Airborne Laboratory. Jay Grinstead at NASA Ames has been assigned project manager for the Hayabusa Reentry MAC mission. Today's coordination meeting at NASA Ames discussed past missions and the new Hayabusa SRC Reentry Observing Camapign.
June 11, 2009 - JAXA and NASA will use the approaching Hayabusa spacecraft as a way to test tracking methods for small asteroid impacts. NASA and ESA are providing JAXA with tracking support. The spacecraft will be observed by ground-based telescopes prior to impact. [More here]
March 29, 2009 - ATV reentry workshop at ESA/ESTEC. Observing team meets and discusses results from ATV-1 "Jules Verne" MAC. Tetsuya Yamada presents an overview of Hayabusa SRC entry preparations.
February 4, 2009 - The ion engine of Hayabusa was re-ignited to start the return to Earth maneuver. From April to June of 2010, pointing maneuvers are planned, to bring back the capsule (and space ship) in June of 2010 [More here]
December 11, 2008 - Hayabusa SRC entry observing campaign coordination meeting at JPL. The photo (left) shows front to back: Tetsuya Yamada (reentry system), Hitoshi Kuninaka (Ion Engines); Masanao Abe (Near-IR spectrometer); Junichiro Kawaguchi (Project Manager); Makoto Yoshikawa (Science). [Note added: The Hayabusa project team members were among the first to learn about the newly recovered fragments of asteroid 2008 TC3 in northern Sudan.] Photo: Peter Jenniskens.
October 29, 2008 - JAXA reports that the first phase of trajectory maneuver operations have finished and the spacecraft is now put in spin-stabilized state.
April 14, 2008 - Hayabusa is oriented in the wrong direction for capsule release. Engineers are working to put the spacecraft in the right orientation. Communication with the spacecraft, too, depends on the correct orientation of the spacecraft. Project maganer Jun'ichiro Kawaguchi is most concerned about the one remaining reaction wheel. [More here]
April 25, 2007 - Hayabusa's attitude control was re-established in order to align th ion engine thrust vector. Only one of the reaction wheels is still functioning. No fuel remains to divert the main spacecraft away from Earth, so both capsule and spacecraft will enter nearly at the same time. [More here]
Jan 17, 2007 - The sample-catcher was transfered into the capsule and sealed successfully. [More here]
December 1, 2005 - Hayabusa departs from Itokawa. A fuel leak shortly after second touch down meant that the engines could not be used for attitude control. A solar flare on December 8 affected attitude and contact was lost. Contact was restored on January 23, 2006. This caused 3 year delay of sample return until June of 2010. [More here]
November 20, 2005 - Hayabusa's first attempt to collect a sample. Spacecraft detects an obstruction and attempt is aborted. Spacecraft bounces twice and lands on surface and stays there for 30 minutes. Second sample collection effort attempted on November 25 proceeds as planned, but no confirmation whether or not the bullet has fired. Brief 1-second touch down of funnel.
May 30, 2005 - JAXA's capsule retreival team has site survey trip to the future landing site in Southern Australia.
Photo: Tetsuya Yamada.
