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Japanese Asteroid Probe Makes Historic Return to Earth

A Japanese space capsule returned to Earth and plunged through the atmosphere over the Australian outback Sunday, capping a seven-year space journey that took it to a nearby asteroid in a historic attempt to collect pieces of a billion-year-old space rock.

The capsule, released by Japan’s Hayabusa asteroid probe, returned around 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT) in the Woomera Prohibited Area of South Australia. The re-entry capsule, which may contain a precious space rock sample, separated from the rest of the spacecraft about three hours before it plummeted down to Earth.

The small 16-inch wide canister planned to land with the help of a parachute and a heat shield to protect it from the fiery temperatures of reentry at an incredible speed. The rest of the Hayabusa spacecraft was expected to burn up in Earth’s atmosphere.

The probe will be recovered and transported back to Japan, where scientists will open it and find out whether it succeeded in returning a piece of the asteroid.

Image: A view of Hayabusa burning up over Australia Credit: © Ozaki Takashi, Yomiuri Shimbun. Visit The Planetary Society for footage of the capsule’s re-entry.

Source: Read the full story at SPACE.com | Other: PhysOrg.com

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