Small-body mission · JAXA (ISAS)

Hayabusa

JAXA's pathfinding asteroid sample-return mission — the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid and return material to Earth. Despite a cascade of failures (reaction wheels, a fuel leak, an intermittent ion engine, and a lost lander), it recovered more than a thousand microscopic grains of the asteroid Itokawa.

CompletedSample-Return Mission Rendezvous Mission Lander Mission

This is the small-body-missions view of Hayabusa. See its main mission page for the full profile.

Targets & sample

Target bodies:25143 Itokawa

Returned sample:Itokawa Sample (Hayabusa)

Mission & science

Goals: Demonstrate the technologies for asteroid rendezvous, surface sampling, and return: ion propulsion, autonomous navigation, and a reentry capsule.
Engineering milestones: First asteroid landing and ascent (2005); first recovery of asteroid surface material (2010).
Science discoveries: Confirmed that Itokawa is a rubble-pile asteroid; its returned grains linked LL chondrite meteorites to S-type asteroids.
Sample return: More than 1,500 grains (sub-milligram total), recovered at Woomera, Australia, in June 2010.
Outcome: Success against the odds — the first asteroid sample return.

Knowledge connections

Operated byJAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency)
Part of programHayabusa program
Mission target25143 Itokawa
Visited25143 Itokawa
Returned samples from25143 Itokawa
Member of groupSample-Return Mission
Member of groupRendezvous Mission
Member of groupLander Mission
Landed on25143 Itokawa
Collected sampleItokawa Sample (Hayabusa)
Mission includesHayabusa Sample-Return Capsule
Associated withReturn & Reentry
Tracked byJAXA Deep Space Network
Associated withHayabusa Samples Asteroid Itokawa
Associated withFirst Asteroid Sample Return

Sources

Facts on this topic will be cited from these primary and reference sources.

JAXAJapan Aerospace Exploration Agency
Japanese missions (Hayabusa, Akatsuki) and space science.
NASANational Aeronautics and Space Administration
Mission data, planetary science, space telescopes, and public-domain imagery.
Most NASA-produced imagery is in the public domain; individual items are checked for usage terms before publication.
NASA JPLJet Propulsion Laboratory / Solar System Dynamics
Orbital data, ephemerides, and small-body parameters for planets, asteroids, and comets.

Loading…

Hayabusa

Mission & science

Goals

Demonstrate the technologies for asteroid rendezvous, surface sampling, and return: ion propulsion, autonomous navigation, and a reentry capsule.

Engineering milestones

First asteroid landing and ascent (2005); first recovery of asteroid surface material (2010).

Science discoveries

Confirmed that Itokawa is a rubble-pile asteroid; its returned grains linked LL chondrite meteorites to S-type asteroids.

Sample return

More than 1,500 grains (sub-milligram total), recovered at Woomera, Australia, in June 2010.

Outcome

Success against the odds — the first asteroid sample return.

Sources

Facts on this topic will be cited from these primary and reference sources.

JAXAJapan Aerospace Exploration Agency

Japanese missions (Hayabusa, Akatsuki) and space science.

NASANational Aeronautics and Space Administration

Mission data, planetary science, space telescopes, and public-domain imagery.

Most NASA-produced imagery is in the public domain; individual items are checked for usage terms before publication.

NASA JPLJet Propulsion Laboratory / Solar System Dynamics

Orbital data, ephemerides, and small-body parameters for planets, asteroids, and comets.