Lecture
This lecture covers the journey of the Hayabusa Asteroid Explorer, launched in 2003, which successfully retrieved samples from asteroid Itokawa in 2010. The mission faced challenges such as autonomous operation, deep space communication, and sample collection. The lecture also discusses the development of the microwave discharge ion engine for the Hayabusa mission and the subsequent Hayabusa 2 mission to asteroid Ryugu, emphasizing the importance of asteroid sample return missions in advancing space science and technology.