Refleksi : Hayabusa berjumpa dengan iblis cantik? Video footage bisa dilihat dengan click pada situs di bawah ini :
http://www.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/14_09.html Descent of Hayabusa capsule confirmed Japan's asteroid probe Hayabusa returned to Earth on Sunday night, after a 7-year journey in space. During its mission, Hayabusa landed on the asteroid Itokawa, 300 million kilometers from Earth. After a series of system malfunctions were overcome, the probe returned 7 years after its launch. It re-entered the Earth's atmosphere a little before 11 PM on Sunday. Before burning out in the atmosphere, the probe released a capsule that might be carrying samples from the asteroid. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, known as JAXA, says it confirmed the capsule landed close to the planned spot in a desert in southern Australia. People in the area could see Hayabusa burning out in the atmosphere, glowing like fireworks. For more than 10 seconds, the capsule looked like a red ball as it emerged from Hayabusa. At the Hayabusa Operation Room in Sagamihara City, west of Tokyo, staff in charge of monitoring the probe completed the last communication with it around 10:30 Sunday night. They clapped and shook hands with each other, celebrating their 7 years of hard work. Hayabusa project manager Junichiro Kawaguchi told reporters he would like to thank everyone involved. He said when they temporarily lost track of Hayabusa they even prayed to God for help finding the probe. Kawaguchi said he is now feeling as if he's in a wonderful dream. JAXA will send a team to the site to recover the capsule, possibly on Monday afternoon. It will transport the capsule to Japan in a special container. If the capsule is found to be carrying asteroid samples, it will be the world's first success of its kind. The composition of the samples is believed to be that of the state of the solar system at its birth. The samples are expected to contribute to research on the formation of Earth. Many people are eagerly waiting the results of analysis of the samples. 2010/06/14 07:43(JST) (JST: UTC+9hrs.)
