Hayabusa – Particles Found!

Picture of opened Hayabusa sample canister showing dust particles (image JAXA) According to a BBC report earlier today, pictures have now been released by JAXA (Japanese Space Agency) showing particles collected by the Hayabusa spacecraft. The image above shows the opened canister, with what appear to be quite large particles. The second image below shows…

So, do we already have samples from Venus and Mercury?

Venus (left) and Mercury (right) (images courtesy of NASA) A little while back, we had a fascinating talk from Professor Albert Jambon (Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris) about a strange group of meteorites known as angrites. Now, you might wonder how one group of meteorites can be any more exotic than another. But angrites…

Hayabusa – A 2010 Space Odyssey

The Hayabusa return capsule is located in the Australian desert. (image courtesy of JAXA) The Japanese space probe Hayabusa made it back to Earth earlier this month (13th June 2010), after an epic flight lasting over seven years. As intended, the main probe burnt up on re-entry producing a spectacular fireball, while a small capsule…

New York, New York

So last Thursday lunchtime, a group of us, armed with cake and sandwiches, met to take a first look at the talks and posters to be presented at the Meteoritical Society Meeting, to be held in New York later this summer. As is usual practice, each presentation is summarised in a short abstract and it…