(LEFT) The 510-kilogram (950-pound) Hayabusa spacecraft rendezvoused with asteroid Itokawa in September 2005. This was second time in history a spacecraft descended to the surface of an asteroid but the first to return with soil samples. (NASA's Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous-Shoemaker spacecraft landed on asteroid Eros on Feb. 12, 2001).
(RIGHT) The ESA scientists calculated
that (european) Rosetta spacecraft lander's first bounce,
lasting nearly two hours, carried it about a kilometre away from the original
point of contact while the second smaller bounce lasted for about seven
minutes, carrying it several metres further. It landed on two of three legs in shadow of a near by cliff.
jpr: These be exciting times for good (responsible) space exploration.
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