----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** JAXA MAIL SERVICE ***
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Hayabusa arrives at Itokawa, starts hovering operations

September 14, 2005

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency

The Hayabusa spacecraft successfully arrived at its target, the near
Earth asteroid Itokawa (25143), at 01:00 UTC(10:00 JST) on September
12th. Hayabusa performed a short chemical thruster burn to slow its
asteroid-relative speed by 7 centimeters per second to settle into the
Gate Position, defined at a distance of 20 kilometers from Itokawa
towards the Earth. Hayabusa is now hovering with respect to Itokawa
and the project has made a great step toward its scientific
observations of the asteroid. Hayabusa's main purpose is to
demonstrate key technologies required for future planetary exploration.
Hayabusa was launched in May 2003. In May 2004, the spacecraft
performed an Earth gravity assist while using ion engine propulsion,
this was the first time a spacecraft has flown such a powered flyby.

During its approach to rendezvous, the visible imager carried by
Hayabusa succeeded in taking multi-band filter photographs of Itokawa,
as the asteroid rotated. This press release contains the resulting
synthesized pseudo-color image and a series of rotation pictures of
Itokawa. In the images, sunlight illuminates the asteroid from behind
the camera, making the terrain features appear more subdued. Most of
the key images obtained by the mission to date are available on the
JAXA main web-site (http://www.jaxa.jp) and the ISAS (Institute of
Space and Astronautical Science) main web-site (http://www.isas.jaxa.jp).

The Hayabusa spacecraft is in good health and all its scientific
instruments (consisting of a visible imager, a near infra-red and
X-ray spectrometer and a laser altimeter) are functioning normally and
have started their calibration observations. Hayabusa will stay at the
asteroid until the end of November and plans to perform detailed
remote sensing and mapping of the asteroid, followed by an attempt to
collect surface samples of Itokawa. The project goals are then to
return the sample back to Earth in 2007. Updated information and future
press releases about the mission will be available at the JAXA and ISAS
web-sites.

The Hayabusa project is a collaborative mission with participation by
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the United
States. The Hayabusa project expresses its appreciation to NASA for
its support of the mission.

Images taken by AMICA, the Hayabusa visible imager.

http://www.jaxa.jp/press/2005/09/20050914_hayabusa_e.html#pic01

This page URL:

http://www.jaxa.jp/press/2005/09/20050914_hayabusa_e.html

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Publisher : Public Affairs Department
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
Marunouchi Kitaguchi Building,
1-6-5, Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8260
Japan
TEL:+81-3-6266-6400

JAXA WEB SITE :

http://www.jaxa.jp/index_e.html