Asteroid May Yield Next Sample of Space Matter
View at WashingtonPost.Com
Like a hummingbird hovering over a tantalizing blossom, a small but virtuoso Japanese spacecraft is poised to touch down in the coming days on the surface of an asteroid 180 million miles away, stir up a small cloud of dust and gather in a sample.
Barring a mishap, Hayabusa, or 'Falcon,' is expected to make two and possibly three touch-and-goes on the asteroid Itokawa, then return to Earth with a tenth of an ounce of asteroid dust.
Like a hummingbird hovering over a tantalizing blossom, a small but virtuoso Japanese spacecraft is poised to touch down in the coming days on the surface of an asteroid 180 million miles away, stir up a small cloud of dust and gather in a sample.
Barring a mishap, Hayabusa, or 'Falcon,' is expected to make two and possibly three touch-and-goes on the asteroid Itokawa, then return to Earth with a tenth of an ounce of asteroid dust.
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