Deep space flight of Hayabusa asteroid explorer

Hitoshi Kuninaka; Jun'ichiro Kawaguchi

doi:10.1117/12.782163

15 April 2008 Deep space flight of Hayabusa asteroid explorer

Hitoshi Kuninaka, Jun'ichiro Kawaguchi

Proceedings Volume 6960, Space Exploration Technologies; 696002 (2008) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.782163
Event: SPIE Defense and Security Symposium, 2008, Orlando, Florida, United States

Abstract

The Hayabusa spacecraft rendezvoused with the asteroid Itokawa in 2005 after the powered flight in the deep space by the μ10 cathode-less electron cyclotron resonance ion engines. Though the spacecraft was seriously damaged after the successful soft-landing and lift-off, the xenon cold gas jets from the ion engines rescued it. New attitude stabilization method using a single reaction wheel, the ion beam jets, and the photon pressure was established and enabled the homeward journey from April 2007 aiming the Earth return on 2010. The total accumulated operational time of the ion engines reaches 31,400 hours at the end of 2007. One of four thrusters achieved 13,400-hour space operation.

Citation Download Citation

Hitoshi Kuninaka and Jun'ichiro Kawaguchi "Deep space flight of Hayabusa asteroid explorer", Proc. SPIE 6960, Space Exploration Technologies, 696002 (15 April 2008); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.782163

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available