How Japan's Hayabusa Asteroid Mission Worked

Japan's Hayabusa asteroid probe launched in 2003 on an ambitious mission to sample a nearby asteroid and return those samples to Earth a few years later, but some things went wrong along the way ? adding a full three extra years onto the hard-luck probe's mission. This graphic shows the long and winding road of Japan's Hayabusa mission to visit and sample the asteroid Itokawa.

• Gallery - Hayabusa: Japan's Asteroid Mission
• NASA Sends Aircraft to Watch Asteroid Probe's Fiery Re-entry
• Astrophotography Telescopes for Beginners