Japanese Spacecraft Ready To Land on Asteroid Nov. 12

Hayabusa's view of asteroid Itokawa. The Japanese space probe has closed in on the object. Future objective of the spacecraft is to sample the asteroid and then return those specimens back to Earth. (Image credit: ISAS)

Japanese Space Probe Reaches Asteroid
Stardust: NASA's Comet Sample Return Mission
NEAR Mission: Landing on an Asteroid

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com.

Charles Q. Choi is a contributing writer for Space.com and Live Science. He covers all things human origins and astronomy as well as physics, animals and general science topics. Charles has a Master of Arts degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia, School of Journalism and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of South Florida. Charles has visited every continent on Earth, drinking rancid yak butter tea in Lhasa, snorkeling with sea lions in the Galapagos and even climbing an iceberg in Antarctica. Visit him at http://www.sciwriter.us