Hayabusa
LocationSpace (returned)
Year2003
SizeIon engines
TypeSample return
About Hayabusa
The first mission to return samples from an asteroid. Launched by Japan in 2003. Touched down on asteroid Itokawa in 2005. Survived engine failures and a fuel leak on the way home. Its capsule landed in Australia in June 2010 with tiny grains of asteroid dust.
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