Itokawa
Itokawa, officially named 25143 Itokawa, is a small near-Earth asteroid named after Hideo Itokawa, often called the "father of Japanese rocketry." Here are some key details about this asteroid:
- Discovery: Itokawa was discovered in 1998 by the LINEAR (Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research) project, and it was later designated 1998 SF36 before being named after Hideo Itokawa in 2003.
- Physical Characteristics: Itokawa is a stony S-type asteroid with dimensions of approximately 535 × 294 × 209 meters. Its irregular shape has led to comparisons with a "space peanut" or "sea otter." The asteroid's surface is covered with boulders and lacks any large impact craters, suggesting a relatively young surface.
- Composition: Analysis indicates that Itokawa is composed mostly of silicate rocks, with a mixture of olivine and pyroxene. This composition suggests it could be a fragment of a larger body that was shattered by a collision.
- Mission: Itokawa was the target of the Hayabusa mission by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Launched in 2003, Hayabusa became the first spacecraft to land on and take off from an asteroid, returning samples to Earth in 2010. The mission provided invaluable data on the asteroid's properties, including its composition, surface conditions, and the regolith's behavior under low gravity.
- Sample Return: The returned samples from Itokawa were minute, with about 1,500 grains collected, providing direct evidence of the asteroid's composition. These samples confirmed the asteroid's S-type classification and gave insights into the Solar System's history, particularly regarding the delivery of water and organic compounds to Earth.
- Orbital Characteristics: Itokawa has a highly elliptical orbit, crossing both Mars' and Earth's orbits. Its closest approach to the Sun (perihelion) is about 0.95 AU, and its farthest (aphelion) is about 1.69 AU. This orbit makes Itokawa a potentially hazardous asteroid due to its Earth-crossing trajectory.
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