The Crazy Story Of Japan's First Asteroid Mission - Hayabusa Survived Using Expensive Rocket Fuel 

It's incredibly impressive that Japan was able to pull this off despite all of the problems, especially because Japan was quite new to deep space missions at the time!

Wow, I had no idea this mission was so complex! What an impressive recovery at all points

One of my favourite things that wasn't mentioned in this video is how they used sunlight pressure to help orient the spacecraft after losing attitude control. Really glad you made a video about this - it's probably one of my favourite missions of all time. The ingenuity that went into saving this mission was incredible.

I am very proud for being one of the Australians that looked after one of 4 JAXA tracking crew in the Australian outback. The delays of the return of Hayabusa, were about a year(from memory). After this length of time in cold space, no one knew if heat shield would release, or the parachute would deploy or the tracking beacon would work. The re-entry was brilliant! Brighter than a full moon going nearly over head. One of the most amazing things I have seen, ever! When the tracking crew detected the beacon signal the tracking crew were ecstatic! Jumping, hugging and cheering! This lasted for about 30 seconds then, like throwing switch, it was all business! They went down to work and tracked the the beacon to the ground. Reporting it's direction so the JAXA team could triangulate the capsules position. It landed within 10km of is intended point of landing! After so many problems, delays even getting back on the ground was impressive. I salute the engineers and scientists who made it happen. Another point of interest was the length of time the ion engines would burn. For a minor correction it wound be days! Or weeks for the major trajectory change!

Japan, blasting asteroids for science since 2003! In all seriousness, that was some cracked engineering that went on to salvage the mission. If all four of my ion engines and 2-3 reaction wheels died in KSP, I’d just rage and revert back to launch

1:34 It’s really impressive how they managed to overcome all these problems _and_ travel back in time! They must’ve used the help of those dolphins in that bi-porpellant thruster (I hear they’re the 2nd most intelligent species on earth)!

I'm sorry for the Japanese researches that got sleepless nights over this. I was in experimental particle physics working on the Belle II experiment in Japan and we often get surprising problems, but at least we have the option to shut down the accelerator, go inside the detector and fix it. But sometimes we had to remind our Japanese colleagues that doing 48 hour shifts is not the solution to a problem.

Japan's dedication to their space programs is awe-inspiring. I mean, their Akatsuki probe failed to fall into orbit around Venus due to engine-burn command problems on first try, but they kept going and waited for another 5 years before they tried again, and succeeded. Such honor that they put on their works

And this isn't the only mission where JAXA's engineers pulled victory--hard--from the jaws of defeat. Look up Akatsuki, the Venus orbiter that missed its first capture burn but used its RCS to get back and stay (it's still operational!).

Everything went wrong. Nothing worked as expected. But even so they got a way to bring it back home and with samples... Jaxa is awesome!!!

This is insane! This probe was unstoppable! 0:46, you gotta love that bi-porpellant fuel.

"Launched in May 2023, arrived at asteroid in 2005" Wow very advanced time traveling spacecraft.

I saw the reentry of Hayabusa into the atmosphere from about 400 km away. Drove up to Windy Point in Adelaide (a well known lovers parking spot) and looked NNW ish. Was still a spectacle from that far away!

Hats off to the engineers & scientists!! They got the sample back to Earth when it seems almost everything went wrong on the mission.

I remember following this mission and being amazed by the close up views. Times flies man

1:35 Scott says: "It launched in May 2023 ...and then return to the Earth in 2007..." So, the plan was to go faster than C in order to travel backwards in time? AMAZING!

Rocket scientists sure are something else! It's like driving across a continent with no engine, one wheel that's sideways, no brakes, but at least there's one air vent that blows hot and one that blows cold air!

I guess Japan has learned how to go back in time 😁 Start listening at minute 1:23 and the time line is funny. Much Love Scott- great video

What a survivor. That hodge-podge engine idea was insane.

I've seen the full scale mock up of the hayabusa at JAXA headquarters this year it's amazing to see it in real life

1:35 I assume the launch was in 2003 and not 2023.

1:35 "launched in may 2023" well 20 years give or take, you are right

Wow! One recovery after another after another! This is more exciting than the story of saving Apollo 13, just without people on board.

I was observing this epic battle against all odds when it was ongoing. An adage says that in the past ships were made of wood, but people were made of steel. Same can be said about Team operating this ship in space era. Many times they were "fixing" it remotely with creative workarounds until finally managed to bring the crippled probe home. Respect! Thank you Scott for recalling this years-long story and presenting it in compact form.

I'm a big fan of the first Hayabusa mission. I think that when you're doing something for the very first time, many things are bound to go wrong no matter how careful you are. It matters much more how well you cope with the inevitable failures. The better you do, the more kudos you deserve. And so I don't think Hayabusa's failures are anything to be ashamed of, and the engineers have a great deal to be proud of in bringing their duct-taped spacecraft back home successfully. Shortly after Hayabusa returned, I was at the Small Satellite Conference and met two Japanese salesmen/engineers (from Mitsubishi, I think). I congratulated them on the wonderful and successful mission. They, on the other hand, expressed embarrassment and shame for the failures. I was astonished and said "no, no, no! it's a great success how Japan overcame so many obstacles!" I think I know more about Japanese culture now, and I think they would have said it's nothing special even if the mission had been flawless. But at the time I was very surprised at their reaction.

Marvelous story. Has anyone ever done a full-length documentary on all the amazing examples of space missions being saved (or enhanced) through brilliant improvisation? There are so many, each one fascinating.

Hey Japan, thanks for this mission. Great job recovering from the obstacles. Thanks for the video, Scott Manley.

The idea that humanity sent a machine from Earth, aaaaall the way out there, looked around, and then BOUGHT BACK stuff... absolutely blows my mind into a million pieces. This stuff is awesome-- literally!

Thanks for casting light on this underrated mission! I knew about the reentry problems and the use of the best microscopes available to analyze what little they manage to bring back, but I didn't know about all these problems! I've heard there are not one but tree movies on this mission's odissey, but they also told me they found them boring for some reason...

Really great coverage of the mission! Hats off to the engineers designing those redundancies.

The graphic at 0:40 "bi-porpellant thruster" Just a couple of dolphins shoved in there swatting stuff out the back of the probe with their tails.

What an amazing story and equally amazing long distance MacGyvering of Hayabusa!! _WELL DONE,_ Japan! 👏👏👏 Thanks for such a cool video, Scott... ❤

The solar flares of 31st oct and 2nd Nov 1003 were truly unwordly. I had a 3mp camera, and managed to get some pix, from the middle of our town and looking South!!! The quality of the pix was abysmal, 20 secs max exposure and 400 iso.

The Hayabusa drinking game: every time Scott says “unfortunately” you drink.

At 1:35 I would assume you ment to say 2003 instead of 2023

I remember that the story of this space probe really caught the imagination of the Japanese people with how it struggled and endured to complete its mission. There was even a song made about it from what I remember.

love these types of "story time" videos - thanks scott!

I followed this mission very closely. Such a rollercoaster of emotions. I was so happy when it finally came back to Earth safely. There are even movies about this ordeal.

What a thriller. Kudos to the involved team - and to you for telling us this fascinating story 👍.

Nice one Scott, enjoyed that and a story I hadn't heard before. A testament to engineers, experts, human ingenuity and how space is hard! Thank you.

I remember being absolutely invested in the little probe that could's journey. All the problems it faced, poor little thing, and while it didn't return as much as might have been hoped, the fact it returned any, the fact it returned at all was an absolute triumph.

its mindblowing how despite all of these malfunctions and bad luck, JAXA still managed to remotely macgyver this spacecraft back home and successfully deliver useful payload to science labs!

Hayabusa launched in 2023, huh? That what you said at 1:37 or so. I couldve sworn it launched in 2003. Unless the Japanese have perfected time travel to the past, launched it this year, then sent it back in time to 2005 for the rendezvous/sample collection. Or maybe, just maybe, Scott made a mistake *gasp*! Lol, great video, even with the goof up.

Fascinating history indeed! Thanks, Scott!!! 😊 Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

Honestly, the fact they managed to get the sat and sample back, with all those breakdowns, is awesome.

Great video, Scott...👍

Good for them! Working through those problems to get the mission done. Fantastic.

Whoa, that is so surreal. Around the same time as the Halloween Solar Storm I returned home to see a fortune cookie fortune laying face up on my door mat which read, "You will soon witness a miracle.", and I half ignored it until I turned around to see a asteroid or some sort of space debris break apart in the sky overhead. I hadn't thought about this moment in years until Scott mentioned the date of the solar storm.

I really enjoy these history lessons and space stories! Thank you

What Perseverance! Amazing Emergency Engineering! Thanks for telling the story so well!

Fascinating story! The problem-solving that went into that was incredible!

Thank you for this report Scott! The best part of this for me is the perseverance, creativity, and determination of the JAXA team! An inspiration to all in SPACE exploration.

Have to say this is brilliant, really enjoyed this!

Scott, thanks for sharing! 🙂😎🤓

Just amazing the way they rode that thing all the way back!!! Beautiful really! These are my favorite kind of space/since stories. This is one of the best ones actually!

Great video Scott

Thanks for explaining this mission and results.

I think I have a new favorite space mission. All the failing components which they got working through incredible hacks, returning and actually making this mission a success!

The little space craft that could, ain't nothin stopping it but its home atmosphere.

The target markers (somewhat like beanbags inside) were highly reflective, rather than containing flashing light sources of their own, I believe.

That shot at the end, of the sample being taken.......😍

This is something out of a movie!! I never knew anything about this, very cool

Thanks for this flashback.

“sea otter in space” oh my gosh, I’d never heard that comparison, it’s so cute!

Good work Scott. How engineers saved the day, again.

damn scrappy - awesome vid sir, thank you

Thank you for the video. This is the story of the "little satellite that could" and its intrepid team helping it along the way with dedication and ingenious fixes to novel problems. In short, this is the story of mankind and its struggles to explore. KUDOS to the entire team. JAXA has some VERY dedicated folks. Peaceful Skies.

Well done Scott

What an amazing story of tenacity and creative engineering!

A past girlfriend, who I spent quite a bit of time with, is Japanese. She surprised me when she said, "don't let our behavior fool you, deep down our soul we are the most stubborn people." Those engineers brought out their soul and a huge dose of creativity

I never imagined I would ever see the words "Hiyabusa" and "half-working engine" in the same sentence.

I remember following along with the end of this mission. Absolutely unreal tenacity from the little probe that could.

Superb video,. thank you! Huge respect to those guys - imagine the feeling when your seemingly 'stupid' suggestion of combining two adjacent 'half engines' actually worked 🤗

keep up the good work as usual - one thing i've noticed after watching this video it was that i was unsubscribed from the channel - maybe it would be a good idea to remind ppl now and then to check if they're still subscribed to the channel :)

Hey my wedding band is made of tantalum!! That’s awesome, Scott. Thanks for the great video as always!!

If this isn't the definition of adapt and overcome I don't know what is...amazing story.

The little probe who could :D thanks for sharing

The short timeframe for the dust being exposed to solar radiation may be due to its location in the dusty saddle region between the two main bodies. This is where stuff knocked off by micrometeorites tends to settle because it is the most "downhill" spot on the asteroid. You'd expect the most recently modified materials to be found in the saddle region.

Fascinating story! Would make for a great space-conquest cinematique drama - Apollo13eque kinda stuff 😎

The effort they went through is just insane. Reminds me sort of the scene where one was hammering the space station in the Armageddon movie :D You just make it to work, no matter what it takes! Sure, not with a hammer, but with top notch science. I wonder if the probes are by standard designed with extra redundancy (such as rewiring the power supplies in case of failure), or it was just a luck for the JP team on their unit. Probably depends on the mission? Scott - would be nice to know about the exact processes which are used when developing a space probe!

There were not one but *three* Japanese feature films dramatizing the Hayabusa mission. One of them even starred Ken Watanabe, who has been in a number of successful Hollywood films like "Memoirs of a Geisha" and "Letters from Iwo Jima."

This was a rollercoaster of a deep space mission

Pretty amazing they managed to work through all the problems and still get back to earth.

The timescales in these missions (Hayabusa & akatsuki) are mind boggling! 😵‍💫

The definition of working with what you have

That spacecraft makes Apollo 13 look like a pleasant sunday afternoon ride with a little pothole.

Wow that's great they able to made it back!

WOW! the story of that spacecraft man! worth of a movie, or at least an anime or manga!

Kudos to Japan's engineers. Truly marvelous how they hack their way into a success mission even with a spacecraft with that amount of bad luck.

Simply genius, so many things going wrong and still getting a successful mission 😮

Now, those Samurai space engineers are _really_ ingenious!

Wow! Bravo 👏🏻

An immense feat of ingenuity to return anything whatsoever.

Amazing recovery!! Great job for the Japanese engineers!

Pretty much everything went wrong on the mission yet they still managed to succeed! Props to Japan

Scott, thank you for an in-depth report on these Japanese attempts at asteroid sampling and the lengths that the engineers went to in order to get a sample back from Space. Let's hope this latest effort, doesn't require s"standing on your head" to get a sample home.

Amazing video

From the perspective of an AOCS engineer, the fact that they could continue with the mission seems so crazy but also incredibly cool. How did they keep attitude control all the way if even some of the xenon neutralizer failed? (Remembering they only had one wheel by this point) Hats off!

Those are some epic workarounds they used! I wonder whether some probes/satellites are actually designed with these wild failover modes as expected contingency scenarios. There seem to be quite a lot of these "we can still control the attitude with the help of sun's pressure on the craft" kind of saves when equipment fails.

Very dedicated and clever team. If something broke, what else works!