The spacecraft is sailing towards the Sun at a slow speed, and its engines have not yet been started to allow it to reach Earth in 2010
A shadow of the Yabusa spacecraft on the asteroid Itokawa
The Yabosa spacecraft was repaired in late January and completed its directional control to allow its antenna to point toward Earth in early March 2006, using Zenon gas boosters and neutron ion engines.
The Japanese Space Agency says that the spacecraft was designed to maintain continuous contact with Earth. It works well and the radio communication with the ground stations is daily. In the months of March and April, the spacecraft performed a "baking" operation designed to vaporize any volatile liquid that may have remained in the spacecraft by raising the temperatures as much as possible. It has not been confirmed that any gas has escaped, but the project team is confident that the baking operation is practically complete.
From the end of April to the middle of May, the spacecraft underwent an inspection of its engines to prepare it for ignition for the return journey. Engines B and D provided good results and appear to be in as good condition as they were prior to the spacecraft's arrival at asteroid Itukuwa. Engine C was shut down until January 2007 when the spacecraft will get closer to the Sun. This is because this engine is sensitive to heat. The engineers believe that the C engine will also work normally. Engine A remains a spare engine.
In any case, the spaceship was badly damaged during the ascent, and to start bringing it home is a difficult plot. However, the project team believes that it will try its best to make the mission successful.
