Editing Ion thruster (section)

===== Hayabusa and Hayabusa2 =====
The [[JAXA|Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency's]] [[Hayabusa (spacecraft)|''Hayabusa'']] space probe was launched in 2003 and rendezvoused with the asteroid [[25143 Itokawa]]. It was powered by four xenon ion engines, which used microwave [[electron cyclotron resonance]] to ionize the propellant and an erosion-resistant carbon/carbon-composite material for its acceleration grid.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ep.isas.ac.jp/muses-c/|title=小惑星探査機はやぶさ搭載イオンエンジン (Ion Engines used on Asteroid Probe Hayabusa)|access-date=2006-10-13|publisher=ISAS |language=ja|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060819093452/http://www.ep.isas.ac.jp/muses-c/|archive-date=2006-08-19}}</ref> Although the ion engines on ''Hayabusa'' experienced technical difficulties, in-flight reconfiguration allowed one of the four engines to be repaired and allowed the mission to successfully return to Earth.<ref>{{cite news|first=Hiroko |last=Tabuchi |author-link=Hiroko Tabuchi |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/02/business/global/02space.html |title=Faulty Space Probe Seen as Test of Japan's Expertise |newspaper=The New York Times |date=1 July 2010}}</ref>

[[Hayabusa2]], launched in 2014, was based on Hayabusa. It also used ion thrusters.<ref>Nishiyama, Kazutaka; Hosoda, Satoshi; Tsukizaki, Ryudo; Kuninaka, Hitoshi. [https://jaxa.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_uri&item_id=15670&file_id=31&file_no=1 Operation Status of Ion Engines of Asteroid Explorer Hayabusa2], [[JAXA]], January 2017.</ref>