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Mission: Hayabusa Re-entry Imaging Mission
Project scientist Peter Jenniskens of the SETI Institute and NASA’s Ames Research Center and Christina Giannopapa of the Netherlands’ Eindhoven University prepared lenses for one of the specialized cameras for installation on NASA’s DC-8 flying laboratory. The Hayabusa capsule and bus entered the Earth’s atmosphere over Woomera, Australia, on June 13 at 11:21 p.m. local time. From the perspective of NASA’s DC-8 airborne observation team, the capsule moved below and slightly ahead of the bus and stayed clear of the spectacular breakup of the bus. After the bus had disintegrated, the capsule continued to create a wake, before reaching peak heating and then fading gradually.June 7, 2010NASA/ Tom Tschida