Q: Was everyone on the team a handling specialist?
Nishine: Yeah, everyone was a pro among pros. That's why not even Hayabusa caused us too much trouble.
Shouji: I knew you guys would get the job done. We were happy to turn it over to you! (Laughs)
Okudaira: Because Hayabusa had an extremely complex internal structure, only exceptional engineers could have assembled it.
Shouji: Because we reduced the weight as much as possible, the wiring and other components were barely long enough, and connectors were removed. This made the probe itself as complicated as a puzzle box. Disassembling a certain part, for example, might have involved removing one piece, slipping another in, and lifting still another.
Oshima: Of course, we tried to come up with a design that made overall assembly as easy as possible. We held discussions with everyone involved as we considered the arrangement and configuration of equipment.
Nishine: I said that assembling Hayabusa didn't cause us too much trouble, but I didn't mean that assembling the probe was easy. It was actually hard. In particular, because many of the harnesses for the probe-internal wiring and connectors for simplifying assembly and disassembly had been removed, assembly and disassembly for testing and other purposes required great care. Plus, Hayabusa just had a lot of objects sticking out all over the place. These included the sampler horn, antennas, observation sensors, and many others. We had to be careful not to get caught on anything.
Shouji: Not only that, but Hayabusa had a lot of parts. It had 1.5 times as many as a normal satellite. That's why the inside was totally full and making handling difficult.
Okudaira: There certainly were a lot of parts. We placed the target marker on the inside of the adapter for connecting to the rocket. Hayabusa is the only probe I can think of where we had to place equipment in places like that.
Shouji: Yeah, that's because we normally don't place any equipment in places like that.
Nishine: There were even connectors deep inside the probe that only certain people could reach and insert. People who had to check whether they were securely connected had all kinds of trouble. They had to use mirrors to see what was going on.
Shouji: The way you guys moved around the probe during assembly was clearly different from other people. Your movements were always safe. Anyone watching would know that there was no possibility of you guys bumping your heads on the probe. That's why we were sure your team would be able to assemble Hayabusa as we designed it. We kept the image of your faces in our minds during our work.
Nishine: Unfortunately, veterans like us are becoming scarce. Recently, we have hired young people and started training them, but learning this kind of work requires hands-on experience. It is only possible to learn how to move at an actual job site. Somehow, we need to increase the number of opportunities our young employees have to build satellites.
Shouji: Anyway, building Hayabusa was hard work. No matter what happened, the launch time couldn't be changed. The Hayabusa launch time was precisely determined in relation to the orbits of Earth and the target asteroid, and the launch couldn't be delayed.
Q: But didn't you delay the Hayabusa launch by changing the target asteroid?
Shouji: Yeah, we did. However, even though we stalled by changing the target asteroid twice, there was no guarantee that such a solution would always be available.
Nishine: At the handling site as well, we started to run out of time as testing proceeded. If there had been no problems, it would have been fine. But, something usually happens that causes a delay. While there was still extra time, we added additional days to the schedule to make up work, but that became impossible, and we eventually ended up unable to go home until the work for a given day was finished.
Okudaira: When the going got tough, Mr. Hagino and Mr. Oshima offered words of encouragement to lift our spirits right when it counted. They were very supportive and encouraging. Their words made me feel like I could do it. As the manufacturer, delays were not an option for us, and there was no choice but to get it done.
Oshima: In contrast, my work was really easy on me. I feel that things proceeded fairly smoothly. However, that's because Mr. Hagino, the project manager, was always working behind the scenes to ensure that things went well. There was never a sense of isolation while developing Hayabusa. Everyone was involved in everyone else's work. I think such an environment around us led to the good result.
Q: On June 13th, the day Hayabusa returned to Earth, what were all of you doing?
Shouji: I watched the return on the Internet at home. I was actually more surprised than happy. After all, this was the first time in history humanity had succeeded in flying to and from an asteroid. I remember thinking that the operation engineers must have faced more difficulties than I could imagine.
Okudaira: At the end of a project, I normally just think, "Well, that's that." However, because I'm involved with the collection capsule, I don't feel like the Hayabusa project has ended.
Nishine: I anxiously watched the return on TV. I was anxious because I was the one who assembled the mechanism that cut the wiring connecting the collection capsule and probe at the end. I was worried that, since they had been neglected for the seven years since the launch, the moving parts might not work properly, but everything went well.
Oshima: I was at the Sagamihara control room taking part in the final operations. When the communication between the 34 meter antenna at the Uchinoura Space Center and Hayabusa was lost at the end, Not detected was displayed on the operation display. When I went to the control room the next day, the same message was still displayed. Until the control equipment is turned off, the last displayed screen remains. I wonder who was in charge of that. They probably couldn't bring themselves to turn the power off.
Shouji: Now that it's all over, I think of the work as interesting, but it was difficult while doing it. The JAXA engineers really taught me a lot. My work on Hayabusa made me a better engineer.
Okudaira: I had tons of experiences with the Hayabusa probe, and I have been able to apply all of those experiences to the Venus probe Akatsuki. I'm glad I was involved.
Nishine: Both on a personal level and to enable us to train more handling workers, I hope there will be another probe like Hayabusa soon.
Oshima: If there is ever a Hayabusa 2, I want to participate and help it succeed. While I accomplished some things with Hayabusa, there are others that I did not, and I think I could do a better job if I ever have another opportunity.
The Hayabusa probe was entrusted with an unprecedented mission. Every one of its parts was designed, manufactured, and assembled specifically for that mission.
Hayabusa is both a machine and one of the world's irreplaceable treasures. The probe represents the culmination of Japanese aerospace development, technology, and ability.
On June 13th, 2010, Hayabusa, which was built by NEC engineers, re-entered the atmosphere and burned up in a glorious ball of radiance. The beautiful result of their efforts exploded into countless tiny particles and dissolved into the atmosphere.
However, their experience and confidence remained. They had created Hayabusa, the first probe to fly to an asteroid and back.
Akatsuki and IKAROS have inherited the Hayabusa DNA.
Right as Hayabusa re-entered Earth's atmosphere, Akatsuki successfully fired a new type of engine as it traveled along the orbit leading to Venus. At the same time, IKAROS spread its sail, starting the first solar sail experiment in history. The Age of Discovery for our solar system has begun.
Takeshi Oshima,Manager,
Space and Satellite Systems Department,
Space Systems Division, NEC Corporation
Since July 2003, he has been the system manager in charge of the overall design of the system for PLANET-C (Akatsuki)
Since July 2007, he has been the Akatsuki project manager.
Toshiaki Okudaira,Manager,
Thermal & Mechanical Systems Group,
Space Engineering Division,
NEC TOSHIBA Space Systems,Ltd.
He is currently in charge of a scientific satellite mechanical system and structure.
For Hayabusa, he was in charge of the overall satellite mechanical systems and designing the sampler.
Kazunori Shouji,Expert Engineer, 3rd Space Systems Development Department,
Mobile Broadband Division, NEC Engineering
He is currently in charge of a scientific satellite mechanical system and the satellite structure.
For Hayabusa, he was in charge of the satellite mechanical systems and probe design.
Seietsu Nishine,Group Leader, System Integration Inspection Group,
Manufacturing Headquarters, NEC TOSHIBA Space Systems
