Sunday, August 29, 2010

Comet C/2010 J2 (McNaught)


Comet C/2010 J2 (McNaught)
Originally uploaded by cbellh47
Comet C/2010 J2 (McNaught)
18 x 151 sec
0.3-m f/4.7 Schmidt-Cassegrain + CCD + red filter
Time Stamp: 2010 08 26, 3:41:20 UT
Motion: 1.03"/min in PA 276.2°
Diffuse. Weakly condensed coma
Magnitude: 18.2 N

Comet C/2006 S3 (LONEOS)


Comet C/2006 S3 (LONEOS)
Originally uploaded by cbellh47
Comet C/2006 S3 (LONEOS)
4x272s
0.3-m f/4.7 Schmidt-Cassegrain + CCD + Red Filter
Time Stamp: 2010 08 27, 4:41:18 UT
Motion: 0.60"/min in PA 251.1°
Mag 17.0 N

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

JAXA Hayabusa-2 mission planned to asteroid (162173) 1999 JU3


Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Hayabusa-2 mission to asteroid 162173 (1999 JU3)  is in the planning stage. The plan is to launch Hayabusa-2 in 2014, land on the asteroid in 2018 and gather surface samples and return to Earth in 2020. The return trip of 2 years versus 6 year total mission time).  The Hayabusa-2  probe will use explosives to make a hole on the asteroid to collect surface materials. JAXA recently announced it submitted a proposal to the country's Space Activities Commission for a less ambitious follow-on to Hayabusa costing about $310 million. The commission and Japanese government will decide the fate of Hayabusa 2 when the JAXA budget is formulated later this year. On Wednesday the trial production of equipment to be loaded on the Hayabusa-2 space probe was approved.

JAXA image
Hayabusa-2 Spacecraft
  • ion propulsion
  • almost same as first Hayabusa with minor modifications
  • flat antenna
  • approach involves one Earth swingby
  • Minerva 2 - Lander
  • sample collection from the asteroid surface with "touch-and-go" approach
Hayabusa-2 and Minerva 2 - Lander (JAXA image)

Orbital diagram of NEA 162173 

(162173) 1999 JU3
  • C-type asteroid
  • SMASSII spectral class Cg
  • expected to contain more organic or hydrated materials than S-type Itokawa
  • a = 1.1896212 AU
  • e = 0.1902258
  • P = 1.30 years
  • Apollo or earth crossing Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Potentially Hazard Asteroid  (PHA)
  • Discovered 1999-May-10 by LINEAR at Socorro (704)
  •  

The Daily Yomiuri - Panel OK's development of Hayabusa successor: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/science/T100805005346.htm

Spaceflight Now - ESA's Cosmic Vision missions depend on priorities abroad: 


Asteroid explorer Hayabusa-2  http://b612.jspec.jaxa.jp/mission/e/hayabusa2_e.html