Doubts about asteroid probe as deadline nears

With a December 10 deadline looming, recent reports indicate there are doubts about the return of Japan’s Hayabusa asteroid probe, and doubts about whether it fulfilled its primary mission of gathering a sample of asteroid particles for return to Earth for study.

TOKYO - A Japanese space probe thought to have landed on an asteroid last month may not have collected a surface sample, calling into question the success of the unprecedented mission to bring the extraterrestrial material back to Earth, an official said Wednesday.

Data from the Hayabusa probe, now hovering several miles from the Itokawa asteroid, did not indicate that the vessel had fired a metal projectile onto the asteroid's surface during its landing as previously thought, said Seiji Oyama of Japan's space agency, JAXA.

The purpose of firing the projectile was to kick up asteroid dust and particles for the probe to collect. While JAXA is saying there is a “slight possibility” that just the landings may have disturbed enough material for a sample to be collected, the agency does not sound overly optimistic.

An additional difficulty confronting the mission is that the probe appears to have had another problem with its thrusters after leaving the asteroid’s surface, and the engines had to be shut down. If JAXA is unable to fix the problem by December 10, the return of the probe by the planned 2007 date will become virtually impossible.

Given the vast distances involved, if the probe’s return flight does not start on time, its orbital path around the sun will carry it out of range, and it will be two years before the probe will again be in a position from which a return to Earth is feasible.