Believe It or Not - Probe yields Earth defence clues

[DoYouEverWonder]

19 March 2006

Japan's Hayabusa spacecraft is providing an unprecedented insight into one of the many asteroids that cross into Earth's neighbourhood.

Data from the mission suggests Itokawa could be a relatively young body formed out of debris from the collision of two larger objects.

Scientists presented their results at a major science US conference held in Houston, Texas.

The mission could also provide clues to preventing asteroid strikes on Earth.

"If you're going to mitigate against an object on an Earth-threatening trajectory, you're going to first want to know its composition and secondly its structure," said Dr Don Yeomans, the scientist in charge of monitoring Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) at the US space agency (Nasa).

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4823526.stm

Ah excuse me, is that a probe in your pocket or are you just happy to see us?