Japan to Send Probe to Asteroid, Bring back Samples

Home>>World

Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, May 05, 2003

Japan to Send Probe to Asteroid, Bring back Samples

Japan is set to launch a space probe later this week that will bring rock samples back to earth from an asteroid, a round-trip journey of about four years, a leading Japanese daily said on Monday.

DISCUSSION

CHINESE

SEND TO FRIEND

Japan is set to launch a space probe later this week that will bring rock samples back to earth from an asteroid, a round-trip journey of about four years, a leading Japanese daily said on Monday.

The MUSES-C probe will blast into space on an M-5 rocket from Japan's Tanegashima launch centre on May 9, the daily Mainichi Shimbun newspaper said.

If all goes well, the probe will arrive at the asteroid, known as 1998 SF36, in June 2005, and then descend to its surface to take rock samples before heading back to earth.

It is set to return in June 2007.

Officials at the Institute of Space and Astronautical Sciences, the research centre in charge of the project, were not available for comment.

Japan's space programme has been plagued in the past.

The last M-5 launch in February 2000 ended in failure when the rocket veered off course shortly after lift-off, resulting in the loss of a satellite.

But a recent string of successes with the larger H-2A rocket, culminating in the late March launch of Japan's first two spy satellites, has boosted hopes that the programme is now on a steady course.

Source: agencies

Questions?Comments? Click here

China to Send Lunar-Probe Satellite in 3 Years: Expert ( 2 Messages)

Analysis: Germany Softening Anti-War Tone as It Enters UN Security Council ( 3 Messages)

Chinese Premier Pledges to Improve SARS Control ( 2 Messages)

China Launches First "Indigenous" Management Theory ( 9 Messages)

China Protects Safety of People from Overseas ( 3 Messages)