“Great success with 6% of the space budget” Incredible cost performance of “Hayabusa 2”, which achieved a historic achievement. Did you really leave the advanced space country? | PRESIDENT Online



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“I was able to complete the mission completely”

The “Hayabusa 2” asteroid explorer capsule returned to Earth on December 6 for the first time in 6 years. So far, only Japan’s early Hayabusa and Hayabusa 2 have been able to pull off the difficult technique of flying an asteroid away from Earth, collecting samples, and returning to Earth again.

Yuichi Tsuda, Project Director, Aerospace Research and Development Organization (JAXA) = JAXA Sagamihara Campus, Sagamihara City, Kanagawa Prefecture, on December 8, 2020, following the arrival of the separate sample capsule from the spacecraft

Photo = Press Photo of Jiji

Yuichi Tsuda, Project Manager, Aerospace Research and Development Organization (JAXA) = JAXA Sagamihara Campus, Sagamihara City, Kanagawa Prefecture, on December 8, 2020, following the arrival of the separate sample capsule from the spacecraft “Hayabusa 2”.

Japan appears to have secured the top position in the world through scientific exploration, but there is also widespread concern that “Japan may abandon the position of an advanced space nation.” Is Japan’s space development progressing or delaying?

After the launch in 2014, “Hayabusa 2” continued to fly smoothly, twice landed on the asteroid “Ryugu”, created an artificial crater and collected sand and substances on the ground. Yuichi Tsuda, project manager at the JAXA Space Science Institute, reported at a press conference on the 15th that “the plan was completely completed.”

Countries like the United States, Europe and China are also working on “sample returns” to bring back samples from celestial bodies other than Earth. NASA (United States Aerospace Agency) also landed a spacecraft on the asteroid “Benne” in October and collected samples. It will return to Earth in 2023. Speaking of NASA, it is an organization that Japan has been seeking as a teacher for many years and has been a model. He surpassed the great major and managed to explore the asteroid twice.

10 years of the emotional language of the first machine

When you hear “Hayabusa”, many middle-aged and older generations will remember the first machine that returned to Earth 10 years ago. Launched in 2003, it landed on the asteroid “Itokawa” and collected samples. Various problems occurred, such as engine failure and communication interruption, and it was in a full-blown state of injury, but in 2010, three years later than planned, the capsule returned to earth and the spacecraft burned to the ground. re-enter the atmosphere.

As the return to earth approached, there was a huge boom that involved people who weren’t interested in science or space. A salaryman who superimposes his life on the appearance of the first “Hayabusa” who travels alone through space while in tatters due to problems, a person who supports him by calling him “Hayabusa-kun”. I was also impressed by the fact that it got burned in the end after work.

On the other hand, “Hayabusa 2” lacked that “drama”. Rather, the team’s goal was not to turn it into a drama. Taking advantage of the failure and experience of the first machine, we refined technology and design and repeated operational training. The effort has been made. Tsuda, who directs “Hayabusa 2”, described it as “10,000 points out of 100”.



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