The Hayabusa (the original code name is MUSES-C) spacecraft was designed to obtain samples from the surface of an asteroid 25143 Itokawa (1998 SF36) and return them to Earth. Itokawa is classified with S-type asteroid, and its size is 535×294×209 meters. The main objectives of the mission were to demonstrate the performance of various technical items such as autonomous navigation, sampling devices and ion engines. On 12 September 2005, the Hayabusa spacecraft successfully rendezvoused with the target asteroid Itokawa. For nearly two month before the sampling, the remote sensing observations were performed not only for the sampling site selection but also for scientific purposes.<br />
In this colloquium, we show the initial scientific results obtained by the multi-band imaging camera (AMICA) [1] [2], that is, its shape, surface topography and mineralogical composition. Unlike previously explored asteroids, this tiny asteroid is covered with numerous boulders instead of fine regolith, and shows large variations in both color and albedo [3]. In addition, we briefly recount a story we experienced in this project.<br />
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Reference<br />
[1] Saito et al. 2006, Science 312, 1341-1344<br />
[2] Yano et al. 2006, Science 312, 1350-1353<br />
[2] Ishiguro et al. 2006, LPSC XXXVII abstract no.1533<br />