Return of Hayabusa spacecraft and reentry of its capsule

Abstract

The Hayabusa spacecraft aiming at technology demonstration for the world's first sample and return from an extra-terrestrial object was launched by the fifth M-V rocket from Uchinoura Space Center, JAXA on May 9, 2003. It went through several troubles and hardships during totally 7 years of interplanetary flight. It successfully returned to the earth and completed the powered- flight by the ion thruster in the beginning of 2010. After successive trajectory correction maneuvers for the reentry, the mother spacecraft, Hayabusa successfully released a small sample-return capsule with asteroid Itokawa sample contained in the sample canister aboard. The capsule entered the earth atmosphere in the desert of Australia on June 13, 2010, and was successfully recovered by June 15. This paper overviews the return operation of the Hayabusa mother spacecraft and reentry flight and recovery operation of the sample return capsule. And the paper also will provide how these TCM and EDL activities were performed and some associated information regarding the Hayabusa mission. Show more