'Minute Particles' in Asteroid Container

The Japanese space agency announced today that “minute particles” have been found inside the capsule of the space probe Hayabusa. It is not yet known if these particles come from the asteroid, or are just impurities from Earth, and the final results might take months.

The opening process was started on June 24 and it confirmed only that there are minute particles inside the capsule, said the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. The project manager, Junichiro Kawaguchi, said that materials from Earth are very likely to be among the particles found in the case, but the important thing is that the pod is not empty. There is still a possibility to find asteroid samples and this encourages scientists.

The capsule is not fully opened but 10 small fragments are visible to the naked eye, according to JAXA scientist Toshifumi Mukai. Researchers found another two minute particles, estimated to be slightly bigger than 10 microns each, thanks to an electron microscope. Mukai said that there is a possibility that these particles may not come from the asteroid. At the launching in 2003, the canister was open, and so it might contain materials originally from Earth.

Hayabusa had several problems during the seven years trip – losing a mini probe to deep space, the failure of two reaction wheels, the failure to properly land and collect a sample and the loss of ground control communication for over seven weeks. It finally returned to Earth on June 13, three years later than initially predicted, and brought hope to scientists as well to the Japanese companies that contributed to developing the technology used on the spacecraft.

Researchers hope that in a few months, when the analysis of the particles will be complete, they will have good news for the world's scientific society.