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Science 2 June 2006:
Vol. 312. no. 5778, pp. 1350 - 1353
DOI: 10.1126/science.1126164
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Reports

Touchdown of the Hayabusa Spacecraft at the Muses Sea on Itokawa

Hajime Yano,1* T. Kubota,1 H. Miyamoto,2 T. Okada,1 D. Scheeres,3 Y. Takagi,4 K. Yoshida,5 M. Abe,1 S. Abe,6 O. Barnouin-Jha,7 A. Fujiwara,1 S. Hasegawa,1 T. Hashimoto,1 M. Ishiguro,8 M. Kato,1 J. Kawaguchi,1 T. Mukai,6 J. Saito,1 S. Sasaki,9 M. Yoshikawa1

After global observations of asteroid 25143 Itokawa by the Hayabusa spacecraft, we selected the smooth terrain of the Muses Sea for two touchdowns carried out on 19 and 25 November 2005 UTC for the first asteroid sample collection with an impact sampling mechanism. Here, we report initial findings about geological features, surface condition, regolith grain size, compositional variation, and constraints on the physical properties of this site by using both scientific and housekeeping data during the descent sequence of the first touchdown. Close-up images revealed the first touchdown site as a regolith field densely filled with size-sorted, millimeter- to centimeter-sized grains.

1 Department of Planetary Science, Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, 3-1-1 Yoshinodai, Sagamihara, Kanagawa 229-8510 Japan.
2 Department of Geosystem Engineering, University of Tokyo, Hongo, Tokyo, 113-8656 Japan.
3 University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109–2140, USA.
4 Toho Gakuen University, 3-11 Heiwagaoka, Meito, Nagoya, 465-8515 Japan.
5 Department of Aerospace Engineering, Tohoku University, Sendai, Miyagi, 980-8579 Japan.
6 Department of Earth and Planetary Science, Kobe University, Kobe, Hyogo, 657-8501 Japan.
7 Applied Physics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University, Laurel, MD 20723, USA.
8 Seoul National University, Seoul, 151-742 Korea.
9 National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Mizusawa, Iwate, 023-0861 Japan.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed: E-mail: yano{at}isas.jaxa.jp

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