Japan Is Back in Touch With Asteroid Probe
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Japan’s space agency said Tuesday it had reestablished partial contact with a problem-plagued probe sent to collect samples from an asteroid, but a fuel leak could cut communications again.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said it had established sufficient contact with the Hayabusa probe to assess its condition and position. JAXA has been gradually restoring communications with Hayabusa since January, after a thruster malfunction the previous month put the probe into a spin that caused a break in contact. Launched in May 2003, Hayabusa’s mission was to land on the asteroid Itokawa and collect samples to bring back to Earth.
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