NASA Astronomers To Observe Hayabusa's Fiery Homecoming

coondoggie writes "NASA said that a group of its astronomers will have a front row seat in Australia to watch the Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa's high-speed, fiery return to Earth. It is bringing with it a hunk of the asteroid Itokawa. The spacecraft is expected to land in an unpopulated area of Australia at approximately midnight locally, or 7 am PDT, on Sunday, June 13. Some 30 NASA astronomers will be flying onboard a specially equipped DC-8 with instruments that can monitor Hayabusa's reentry."

Comments

Re:"unpopulated"

[Zouden]

Indeed. It's a testing ground for various military purposes, and in the 1950s the British government tested nuclear weapons there.

However there is a (small) population there. The mailman has to use a helicopter because the area is the size of England.