Scientists from Japan were given the go-ahead to retrieve the sample return capsule from the Hayabusa spacecraft, which is hoped to contain the first piece of asteroid ever brought to Earth, perhaps providing insight into the origins of asteroids – and our universe. The capsule was ejected three hours before reaching Earth, and the sample canister descended through Earth’s atmosphere, preceding the spacecraft which broke up in spectacular over the Australian Outback. The capsule lay in the Woomera Prohibited Area until morning when Aboriginal elders deemed it had not landed in any indigenous sacred sites, giving the OK for the scientists to retrieve it.

Continue Reading

The quantitiy of debris in space has been causing concern to agencies involved with exploring space and companies depending on satellites installed there. But now space agencies have demonstrated the capability of a new system which tracks debris and is intended to prevent collisions. The system detected a near-collision situation in which 3.8 tons of rocket booster waste left over from a Chinese launch threatened the 8 ton European Space Agency (ESA) Envisat Earth remote-sensing spacecraft.

Continue Reading