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Science 2 June 2006:
Vol. 312. no. 5778, pp. 1334 - 1338
DOI: 10.1126/science.1125718
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Reports

Near-Infrared Spectral Results of Asteroid Itokawa from the Hayabusa Spacecraft

M. Abe,1 Y. Takagi,2 K. Kitazato,1,3 S. Abe,4 T. Hiroi,5 F. Vilas,6 B. E. Clark,7 P. A. Abell,8 S. M. Lederer,9 K. S. Jarvis,8,10 T. Nimura,1,3 Y. Ueda,3 A. Fujiwara1

The near-infrared spectrometer on board the Japanese Hayabusa spacecraft found a variation of more than 10% in albedo and absorption band depth in the surface reflectance of asteroid 25143 Itokawa. Spectral shape over the 1-micrometer absorption band indicates that the surface of this body has an olivine-rich mineral assemblage potentially similar to that of LL5 or LL6 chondrites. Diversity in the physical condition of Itokawa's surface appears to be larger than for other S-type asteroids previously explored by spacecraft, such as 433 Eros.

1 Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, 3-1-1 Yoshinodai, Sagamihara, Kanagawa 229-8510, Japan.
2 Toho Gakuen University, 3-11 Heiwagaoka, Meito, Nagoya, Aichi 465-8515, Japan.
3 University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan.
4 Graduate School of Science and Technology, Kobe University, 1-1 Rokkodai, Nada, Kobe, Hyogo 657-8501, Japan.
5 Department of Geological Science, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA.
6 MMT Observatory, Post Office Box 210065, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA.
7 Department of Physics, Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA.
8 National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 77058, USA.
9 Department of Physics, California State University, 5500 University Parkway, San Bernardino, CA 92407, USA.
10 ESC Group/Hamilton Sundstrand, 2224 Bay Area Boulevard, Houston, TX 77058, USA.

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
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Adventures in near-Earth object exploration..
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Science 312, 1328-1329
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The rubble-pile asteroid Itokawa as observed by Hayabusa..
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X-ray fluorescence spectrometry of asteroid Itokawa by Hayabusa..
T. Okada, K. Shirai, Y. Yamamoto, T. Arai, K. Ogawa, K. Hosono, and M. Kato (2006)
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Mass and local topography measurements of Itokawa by Hayabusa..
S. Abe, T. Mukai, N. Hirata, O. S. Barnouin-Jha, A. F. Cheng, H. Demura, R. W. Gaskell, T. Hashimoto, K. Hiraoka, T. Honda, et al. (2006)
Science 312, 1344-1347
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Touchdown of the Hayabusa spacecraft at the Muses Sea on Itokawa..
H. Yano, T. Kubota, H. Miyamoto, T. Okada, D. Scheeres, Y. Takagi, K. Yoshida, M. Abe, S. Abe, O. Barnouin-Jha, et al. (2006)
Science 312, 1350-1353
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