tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107893016475310251.post7492237672243756716..comments2014-08-28T21:47:53.643+01:00Comments on Tattooed Science: Japan probe sees asteroid dust - a teaserErin Macdonaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14163553896447736905noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107893016475310251.post-65437841900677058142010-07-10T00:53:53.316+01:002010-07-10T00:53:53.316+01:00Well, the Japanese really just demonstrated that i...Well, the Japanese really just demonstrated that it was sort of feasible to do regular deep-space missions. From my understanding, the only thing that worked was two-eighths of the 4 engines (horray non-reduced fractions!). Their scoop failed to really get any penetration (hey-oh!), and I don't know what they were expecting...<br />I mean, the Moon's surface would be meters deep if it weren't for vacuum cementing, and there's no reason that I'm aware of that an asteroid would be any less affected by it. I put down some rough numbers, and I think that it's entirely likely that the asteroid has only mm (instead of the moon's cm) of dust along the surface, given the drastically lower surface gravity among other things.<br />Great post!DAstronomerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07512513317103812684noreply@blogger.com