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Today's HAYABUSA / Febrary 4, 2010 (JST)
Presumption Distance from Earth : 41,007,860 km
Current Position/Trajectory Profile
Febrary 9, 2010
I was confirmed that Hayabusa has reached the trajectory that will pass at 750 thousand kilometers from Earth. It is two times as distant as to the Moon. Ion engines aboard have worked well since last week, and the spacecraft almost precisely has been guided along the target line shown. Around at the end of this month, Hayabusa will be on the orbit that passes through even within Moon's distance.
Project manager Junichiro Kawaguchi
Hayabusa will pass at two times as far distance as to the Moon
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Current position of HAYABYSA in inertial coordinate system (ecliptic coordinate system) (as of Febrary, 2010)
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Hot Information
January 14, 2010
HAYABUSA coming back to terrestrial gravitation realm! Soon to be home
The Asteroid Explorer “HAYABUSA,” which is on its way back to the Earth, has gradually been changing its orbit to come closer to the Earth. The explorer is now confirmed to be on an orbit that passes through the inside of the terrestrial gravitation sphere (about 1.4 million km from the Earth.) Currently, the HAYABUSA is flying about 60 million km away from the Earth. Its flight orbit is scheduled to be moved inside the moon orbit.
Proximity Operation Ahead
| In June of 2010 | Return to the Earth |
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Success Criteria for HAYABUSA ( defined prior to launch )
| [ Success! ] Operation of Ion Engines | 50 points |
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| [ Success! ] Operation of Ion Engines for more than 1000 hours | 100 points |
| [ Success! ] Earth Gravity Assist with Ion Engines | 150 points |
| [ Success! ] Rendezvous with Itokawa with Autonomous Navigation | 200 points |
| [ Success! ] Scientific Observation of Itokawa | 250 points |
| [ Success! ] Touch-down and Sample Collection | 275 points |
| Capsule Recovered | 400 points |
| Sample obtained for Analysis | 500 points |
