It what is being called a daring encounter with an asteroid, a small unmanned Japanese spacecraft called Hayabusa (aka Muses-C) arrived at asteroid Itokawa recently and is snapping some great photos. What's especially cool about the encounter, however, is that Hayabusa has a little baby hopping robot inside it called Minerva that will be released to land on November 12th. The mini-robot Minerva will then hop around on the low gravity asteroid Itokawa and even get some readings and samples and return them back to Earth! Hayabusa's health is not so good, though. Right now the spacecraft is running on it's last gyro (3 died of 4) and last bit of fuel to keep it oriented properly. Japan's space agency is hoping that all will hold together for this exciting part of the mission.

More info...

• Hayabusa probe prepares to punch an asteroid
• Hayabusa's Scientific and Engineering Achievements during Proximity Operations around Itokawa
• Japanese Spacecraft Ready To Land on Asteroid Nov. 12
• Japan's Hayabusa Closes in on Asteroid Landing Site
• Current Status of Hayabusa And Events Scheduled In November
• Asteroid Sample-return Spacecraft "Hayabusa" (Muses-C)
• Hayabusa Wikipedia