Prospecting a space potato

"In this artist's rendition, distributed by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, JAXA's Hayabusa probe hovers on an asteroid. The Hayabusa probe reached within just 20 kilometers (12 miles) of an asteroid on Monday, 12 September.

"The Hayabusa probe, launched in May 2003, will hover around the asteroid, informally named Itokawa, for about three months before making its unprecedented -- and very brief -- landing to recover samples in early November. The asteroid is about 290 million kilometers (180 million miles) away, between Earth and Mars."