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Reading the Dust from Asteroid Itokawa First Analysis of the HAYABUSA Sample

In June 2010, the asteroid explorer HAYABUSA returned from a seven-year journey to bring back to Earth material from the surface of the asteroid Itokawa. This is the first time that a sample has been successfully retrieved from an asteroid, and scientists around the world are showing great interest in what that sample is going to reveal about our solar system. The Itokawa sample consists of more than 1,500 dust particles, although to date only around 200 of the larger particles – those visible with an optical microscope – have been retrieved. More than 60 of these particles were distributed to scientists for initial analysis, and partial results of their studies were featured in the August 26, 2011 issue of the American academic journal Science. Here we present what has been revealed so far about Itokawa.

First Analysis of Tiny Particles from Itokawa FULL STORY

HAYABUSA’s Challenge Akio Fujimura Advisor, Research and Development Office, Lunar and Planetary Exploration Program Group (JSPEC), JAXA Advisor, Basic Technology Group, Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS), JAXA FULL STORY

Asteroids: The Primitive Objects in the Solar System Tomoki Nakamura Professor, Graduate School of Science, Tohoku University FULL STORY

Using Oxygen to Trace the Origins of Meteorites Hisayoshi Yurimoto Professor, Natural History Sciences, Hokkaido University FULL STORY

Particles from Itokawa: A Treasure for the World Michael E. Zolensky Cosmic Mineralogist Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Directorate, NASA FULL STORY