Notices by Elizabeth Tasker (elizabethtasker@mastodon.online)

#Snowkyo! (Little bit…)

It’s pretty cold this week in Tokyo, and our teacher (Japanese), myself (British) and one of my classmates (Ethiopian) turned up to class wearing chunky sweaters.

Then the Canadian arrived in a tee-shirt 😂

FOUND YOU!
#CasperCat & #NorahNeko

(How can you quickly tell the difference between Hayabusa vs. Hayabusa2? The most distinctive difference is that the parabolic high-gain antenna (big top dish) on Hayabusa was swapped for two flat antennas on Hayabusa2 that could transmit at higher volume Ka-band frequencies. So 2 📡📡 for Haya2 🛰️🛰️.)

We begin… with a mission overview. Which has a VERY PLEASING picture to word ratio.

That’s Hayabusa in the top right ready for launch with solar panels and sampler horn tucked in, stuffed inside the M-V rocket fairing on the left, and a photo snapped of the Earth during the swing by in May 2004.

(Hayabusa was never intended to burn up in the atmosphere, but after completing the mission on failing hardware after being hit by a massive solar flare, it was no longer possible to control the spacecraft. But this might be SPOILERS for the rest of book!)

After 7 years and 6 billion km, the sample capsule containing the 4.6 billion year old Itokawa fragments landed in the Woomera Australian desert. Hayabusa also entered the atmosphere, disintegrating as a shooting star brighter than two full moons 🌝🌝 and exploding in colours of orange and blue.

New word of the day ゴツゴツ meaning (based on context) rugged AF. Hayabusa arrived at asteroid (ゴツゴツ) Itokawa and landed twice to collect samples. Badness happened on touchdown 1 and Hayabusa was stuck on the surface, requiring an emergency takeoff, but touchdown 2 went smoother. Touchdown is done in a second, as the asteroid surface can be 100°C ☀️.

Asteroid 1998 SF36 (as Itokawa is known at this point in our tale) is about 500m long, and Hayabusa is a worried about finding it in the vastness of space! It seems so very far for a spacecraft the size of a small car.

An emotional goodbye to the M-V rocket takes place, whose fate is glossed over.

The main story in my Hayabusa book turns out to be written as a first-person account by the spacecraft 😳. I’m not sure I’m emotionally prepared for this.

We have departed for space onboard the M-V rocket from Japan’s Uchinoura Space Center. Hayabusa couldn’t see outside, but could feel soaring into the sky 🚀✨

OK, book is about to get more serious with way more words. We shall return… another time.

I’d read more but I caught a cold at the onsite meeting this week, ironically for Hayabusa’s newest successor, the Martian Moons eXploration #MMX mission 😐

I am too full of congestion to linger in this public place 🤧

Now in space (and “born” 🐣) MUSES-C officially becomes “Hayabusa”. The spacecraft loves its new name, and imagines dropping from the sky to grab an asteroid sample, like a falcon (hayabusa) grasps prey! 🦅

BUT WAIT! There’s a problem with one ion engines 😱 The team assures Hayabusa that 3 engines will be OK 👌🏻

Ignoring the defunct ion engine, Hayabusa lights three ion engines simultaneously and becomes the first spacecraft in the world to do so! 🌏 🥇 On Earth, an ion engine can only move a 1 yen coin, but in airless space the speed can steadily build. Hayabusa follows Earth for a year to gather momentum 💪🏻

Tonight, I ordered this complete abomination. It’s a Pizza Hut pizza slice filled with… strawberry KitKats.

Hey, I did not invent it. But I did eat it. For science.

It is overly sweet. And indeed, abominable.

OK, we’re starting this new adventure that I found in the JAXA bookstore.

HAYABUSA DELIVERS A TIME CAPSULE
7 years, 60 billion km flight

It’s written for children and thus… our reading may re-enact this mission in real time… and omit the swearing I suspect took place during this crazy journey.

Would you like to change the colour of your cat? May I present... the magic cat-changer box! (Gender may also vary.)
#CasperCat #NorahNeko

Midway through a sort-out I found this note tucked into a pile of letters from my grandmother.

TELL ME THIS ISN'T THE START OF A COSY MURDER MYSTERY!

I have... zero idea... what this is about. Current plan is to put it back in a box to be uncovered when I move again in another 10~20 years.

Guys!!! This is the first time I’ve seen #CasperCat play with a cat toy! I’ve been trying different toys since Casper joined us but while he’s walked inside the cat tunnels, I’ve not previously seen him play except with #NorahNeko.

It is not the season for this 😐Although does explain my wet sock.