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SPACE — On May 9, 2003, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched the first asteroid sample return mission, Hayabusa. The mission was also the first to land on an asteroid.
Hayabusa spent about two years chasing a near-Earth asteroid called 25143 Itokawa. It then landed on the asteroid, took several samples, and returned to Earth in 2010.
Hayabusa successfully completed its mission, even though it had to fight interference and various technical difficulties. The problems began six months after launch, when a massive solar flare damaged Hayabusa’s solar panels.
This reduced the amount of power the solar panels could supply to its ion engine, so it took an additional three months to reach the asteroid. After finally arriving there, Hayabusa tried to drop a small lander robot named MINERVA, but the robot floated into space without even touching the asteroid.
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Hayabusa then made two separate landing attempts that were fraught with problems. In fact, the spacecraft had to enter safe mode. But somehow, he still managed to bring some asteroid dust back to Earth. Only God, Hayabusa, and asteroids know the answer. Source: Space.com
