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Comment by viggity | Hacker News Reader

Based on the last image it looks like the spacecraft dropped off the sample then continued back into space. Anyone know why? Headed for more collection?

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It's heading out to asteroid 1998KY26 (ETA July 2031) after a flyby of asteroid 2001CC21 (ETA July 2026). It won't do any more sample collecting but take photos and other measurements.

That image is way way oversimplified. The spacecraft did not enter the atmosphere and head back into space. The capsule was released far away from earth, the action of releasing it placing it into a lower perigee that allowed it to be captured by the atmosphere. The rest of the spacecraft continued on the higher orbit.

The original Hayabusa 1 did enter the atmosphere - after suffering many malfunctions and other hardships it managed to deliver it's precious sample capsule back to Earth. But after all this, it had no more fuel left for an avoidance manuever like Hayabusa 2 just did. So Hayabusa 1 burned up in the atmosfere, sacrificing itself to deliver its precious asteroid sample.

This has been captured in what might be the sadest spaceflight related manga I've ever seen: https://web.archive.org/web/20100615002512/http://drawr.net/...

Even if you can't understand the japanese text in it, I'm sure it can convey its meaning regardless. And it migh make you shed a tear or two for the brave probe that fulfilled its mission agains all odds and came back home...

(Hayabusa receives the order to detach the capsule. She complies and then grimly prepares to burn up. Earth unexpectedly contacts her with one last order, to turn around and look at Earth. When she does so, Earth congratulates her for a job well done and warmly welcomes her home.)

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