Probe Appears Damaged After Asteroid Landing
From Times Wire Reports
A Japanese spacecraft showed signs of trouble after leaving an asteroid where it had been sent to collect surface samples to bring back to Earth, officials said.
The Hayabusa probe, hovering about three miles from the asteroid, appeared to be shaking, possibly because of a gas leak from a thruster, said Atsushi Akoh, a spokesman for Japan’s space agency, JAXA.
The agency will not know for sure whether Hayabusa collected surface samples until the return of the probe’s canister to Earth, which is slated for 2007.
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