Japanese Panel To OK Hayabusa-2 Development

摘要

Japan's Space Activities Commission (SAC) is poised to formally recommend in mid-August development of a follow-on to the Hayabusa asteroid sample-return mission that reached Earth in June.rnA key SAC evaluation committee approved the technical plan and mission goals for Hayabusa-2 in a report published Aug. 5. The 33-page report recommends launching the follow-on craft before the end of March 2015 to visit, land on, deploy a miniature rover and collect and return a sample of a C-class asteroid, which is believed to contain materials that can give clues to the formation of the solar system.