MUSES-C Launched

Anonymous Coward writes "If all goes well, Japans MUSES-C asteroid probe will be bringing back samples from an asteroid in less than five years. Launched friday afternoon at 1:29 pm (local time) the probe should reach its target in June of 2005. The MUSES-C probe will collect surface samples of asteroid 1998SF36 totaling 1 gram, including sand and stone fragments, two years later before returning to the Earth in June 2007, researchers said."

Comments

How will they retrieve the samples?

[robslimo]

OK, Apolloa 17 brought samples back from the moon, but astonauts more or less hand carried them back. How are the Japanese exepecting to get their samples back? I never heard of a space probe designed to return anything back to earth, so I'm curious. Are they going to drop the craft back to earth on a trajectory that minimumizes re-entry heating?

Re:How will they retrieve the samples?

[molo]

FYI, old spy satellites used to drop rolls of film. I'm not sure about the mechanism though.

-molo

Re:How will they retrieve the samples?

[robslimo]

Still no complete answer, but I found this link:

http://abob.libs.uga.edu/bobk/ccc/cc011698.html

Excerpt: Muses-C spacecraft will also fire explosive charges into the asteroid, collect the samples that are ejected from the impacts, and return the samples to Earth in a capsule for
laboratory analysis

and this:

http://www.isas.ac.jp/e/enterp/science/lunapla.h tm l

In this mission, the spacecraft will land on the asteroid surface, sample the surface rocks/soils and encapsulate them into a container. We will recover the samples carried by the entry capsule which will provide us with many findings of primitive bodies in the solar system.

-robSlimo

1 gram?

[ChiefArcher]

for the millions of dollars this thing is probably costing... and only 1 GRAM!?!? geez.

You think they'd think of something better to do.

Something cool would be..
A) Collect a few pounds
B) Fly back to earth orbit...
C) Catch up with the ISS
D) Grab said payload
E) Transport it back to earth on the next shuttle mission..

IANARS (I am not a rocket scientist)

ChiefArcher

Re:1 gram?

[g4dget]

A space shuttle launch costs more than the launch for this probe. Furthermore, astronauts are not qualified to assemble this probe, they would be unable to perform the necessary testing, and their time in orbit costs so much per hour that that wouldn't be cost-effective either.

It came from Japan

[Joe the Lesser]

Here's what I forsee:

The probe returns, but actually has gathered some hibernating alien eggs. They hatch and infect the lead scientists, and take over their minds. Then the scientists give themselves cool names like, Dr. Destructo, and find a secret island base where they can hold the world hostage from.

I've seen this sort of thing happen before, and it's not pretty.

Soviets Did This

[karnat10]

Back in 1970, in SOVIET RUSSIA, they successfully returned samples from the moon to earth, no astronauts involved. Check it out here:

http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/database/MasterCatalog? sc=1970-072A