Untouched asteroid samples will be delivered to Earth for the first time.

In June, an unmanned spacecraft Hayabusa will land in Australia, which will bring with it samples of the asteroid Itokawa . By space, the asteroid is tiny: only 540 x 270 x 210 meters. It took seven years to take and deliver samples. The launch of the spacecraft took place in May of 2003, the asteroid is located 300 million km from Earth.



For the first time in history, scientists will receive an intact sample of a true asteroid from space, rather than fragments that have melted in the earth’s atmosphere. This will provide new information on the evolution of the solar system. And in general, it is useful to know what exactly the "shells" are made of, which are sweeping in threatening proximity to the Earth.

This is generally the first case in the last 40 years, when extraterrestrial samples of the substance of the Solar System are delivered to us, this has not happened since the times of the landing on the Moon.
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The Australian press is already preparing for this event. They write that the landing will take place near the Woomera military base in the desert of South Australia. This is a huge military base (the largest in the world), and the Japanese ship must fall within its restricted area of ​​130 thousand km ² .

In addition to taking samples, Hayabusa measured the surface of an asteroid using a number of scientific instruments, including gravity and environmental conditions, made photographs of the surface of the asteroid using wide-angle and telescopic cameras. Soon we will see these photos.