25143 Itokawa is an S-type asteroid that was discovered Sept. 26, 1998 by the Lincoln Laboratory Near-Earth Asteroid Research Team at Socorro, New Mexico.  This near-Earth asteroid has dimensions 535 m × 294 m × 209 m, and an orbit semi-major axis distance of 1.3241 AU.  It is a member of the Apollo group and is classified as a potentially hazardous asteroid (PHA).  In 2005, 25143 Itokawa became the first asteroid from which samples were captured and brought to Earth for analysis. The Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa (Japanese for falcon) touched down twice on the asteroid and collected a small amount of dust despite the failure of the mechanism designed for the purpose. It delivered the sample to Earth on 13 June 2010.

Manually created by RChen to complete mission Hayabusa

25143 Itokawa

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The primary scientific objective of the Hayabusa (formerly Muses-C) mission was to collect a surface sample of material from the small (550 x 180 meter) asteroid 25143 Itokawa (1998 SF36) and return the sample to Earth for analysis. Other scientific objectives of the mission included detailed studies of the asteroid's shape, spin state, topography, color, composition, density, photometric and polarimetric properties, interior and history.  Hayabusa launched in May 2003 and performed orbital operations at Itokawa in Sept.-Nov. 2005.

25143 Itokawa Information Page

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