Japan Launches Asteroid Mission   
       
   Dec. 4, 2014: On Dec. 3, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)   
   successfully launched its Hayabusa2 mission to rendezvous with an asteroid,   
   land a small probe plus three mini rovers on its surface, and then return   
   samples to Earth. NASA and JAXA are cooperating on the science of the mission   
   and NASA will receive a portion of the Hayabusa2 sample in exchange for   
   providing Deep Space Network communications and navigation support for the   
   mission.   
       
   http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/rosetta/20141118/rosetta20141118-full.jpg   
       
   Asteroid Explorer "Hayabusa2" is a successor of "Hayabusa" (MUSES-C), which   
   revealed several new technologies and returned to Earth in June 2010. Image   
   Credit: JAXA and Akihiro Ikeshita   
       
   Hayabusa2 builds on lessons learned from JAXA's initial Hayabusa mission,   
   which collected samples from a small asteroid named Itokawa and returned them   
   to Earth in June 2010. Hayabusa2's target is a 750 meter-wide asteroid named   
   1999 JU3, because of the year when it was discovered by the NASA-sponsored   
   Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research project, Lexington, Massachusetts. This   
   is a C-type asteroid which are thought to contain more organic material than   
   other asteroids. Scientists hope to better understand how the solar system   
   evolved by studying samples from these asteroids.   
       
   "We think of C-type asteroids as being less altered than others," says Lucy   
   McFadden, a planetary scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in   
   Greenbelt, Maryland. "Bringing that material back and being able to look at it   
   in the lab - I think it's going to be very exciting."   
       
   On Nov. 17, NASA and JAXA signed a Memorandum of Understanding for cooperation   
   on the Hayabusa2 mission and NASA's Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource   
   Identification, Security - Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) mission to mutually   
   maximize their missions' results. OSIRIS-REx is scheduled to launch in 2016.   
   It will be the first U.S. asteroid sample return mission. OSIRIS-REx will   
   rendezvous with the 500-meter-sized asteroid Bennu in 2019 for detailed   
   reconnaissance and a return of samples to Earth in 2023.   
       
   Hayabusa2 and OSIRIS-REx will further strengthen the two space agencies'   
   relationship in asteroid exploration.   
       
   The missions will also help NASA choose its target for the first-ever mission   
   to capture and redirect an asteroid. NASA's Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) in   
   the 2020s will help NASA test new technologies needed for future human   
   missions for the Journey to Mars.   
       
   Comets and asteroids contain material that formed in a disk surrounding our   
   infant sun. The hundreds of thousands of known asteroids are leftovers from   
   material that didn't coalesce into a planet or moon in the inner solar system.   
   The thousands of known comets likely formed in the outer solar system, far   
   from the sun's heat, where water exists as ice.   
       
   Larger objects like dwarf planets Pluto and Ceres also formed in the outer   
   solar system, where water ice is stable. Pluto and Ceres will soon be explored   
   by NASA missions New Horizons and Dawn, respectively. Asteroids and comets are   
   of unique interest to scientists, though, because they could hold clues to the   
   origins of life on Earth.   
       
   These missions have greatly increased scientific knowledge on Earth about our   
   solar system and the history of our planet. Many scientists suspect we could   
   find organic material in asteroids and comets, like amino acids-critical   
   building blocks for life, which could help answer questions about the origins   
   of life on Earth. These questions drive us to continue exploring the   
   intriguing asteroids and comets of our solar system.   
       
   Multiple missions that are operating in space or in development by NASA and   
   international partners could bring us much closer to answering that question   
   in our lifetimes and also help identify Near-Earth Objects that might pose a   
   risk of Earth impact, and further help inform developing options for planetary   
   defense.   
       
   Follow the latest missions and discoveries at: http://www.nasa.g   
   v/asteroid-and-comet-watch/   
       
   Credits:   
   Production editor: Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA   
       
       
   Regards,   
       
   Roger   
      
   --- D'Bridge 3.99   
    * Origin: NCS BBS - Houma, LoUiSiAna (1:3828/7)