Word: hayabusa
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...good example of Japan's strategy of selective excellence is the Hayabusa space probe. Launched in May 2003, the robotic craft reached a 300 m by 700 m asteroid called Itokawa last month and set about mapping it. The mission calls for the probe to descend to the surface of this small asteroid next month and remove rock samples before starting the 2.5-year journey home. If successful, the Hayabusa mission will mark the first time material has been recovered from an asteroid in space and returned to Earth...
...mission involves other innovations. The Hayabusa ("falcon") spacecraft is powered not by a conventional liquid chemical rocket but by an ionized-xenon-gas engine, a propulsion system that is 10 times more efficient. Just as novel is a half-kilogram rover that Hayabusa will dispatch to roam the asteroid for several days. The robot, named Minerva, will use its miniature cameras and thermometers to send data back to the mothership. Since wheels are useless on such low-gravity surfaces, the coffee-can-sized machine will maneuver using an internal pendulum?a swinging weight that will let the bot hop about...
...Funding for future exploration depends on the continuing success of missions such as Hayabusa. Unfortunately, JAXA announced last week that Hayabusa had developed steering trouble. For now, the probe is still being prepared for its critical descent next month. But JAXA engineers are under more pressure than ever to ensure this falcon will find its target and fly safely home...
...bird! It's a plane! No, it's Suzuki's Hayabusa (Japanese for falcon), said to be the fastest "street-legal" sport bike ever made. Its 1,300-cc engine and aerodynamic design enable the bike to reach 186 m.p.h., leaving the current champ, the Honda Blackbird, in the dust. What good is having a vehicle that can go three times the speed limit? Ask any guy with a Ferrari...
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