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Communications between ground stations and the spacecraft were lost after a fuel leak aboard the probe at the end of November. The leaked fuel is thought to have accumulated in various parts of the craft, and then escaped, changing its orientation and preventing contact with ground stations.
According to a JAXA press release: �Current estimation says the spacecraft may be in a large coning motion and that is why the spacecraft has not responded to the commands sent from the ground station.� They state that there is a �high possibility� that communications will resume within the next several months, �However, the spacecraft may have to undergo another long-term baking cycle before it starts the return cruise operation using ion engines aboard. And it is concluded that the commencement of the return cruise during December is found difficult.�
JAXA said that unless communications resume very soon: �the return cruise should start from 2007 so that the spacecraft can return to the Earth in June of 2010, three years later than the original plan.�
Hayabusa was expected to depart asteroid Itokawa in December, when the asteroid and Earth were in ideal positions for the return trip. Hayabusa was expected to then drop the samples of asteroid material back to Earth in 2007. The spacecraft now looks set to miss the December window, and will have to wait for the next in 2007. This would allow Hayabusa to return the samples to Earth in 2010.
JAXA had been concerned that Hayabusa would not have enough fuel for the return journey, but they now believe the xenon gas supply will be adequate.
In another setback for the mission, the probe�s second attempt to collect a sample of material from Itokawa now appears to have been unsuccessful. The probe should have fired a pellet into the asteroid and collected the ejected material when it swooped down on 25 November, but it appears that the pellet failed to fire.
More info: JAXA: Hayabusa
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