At Large: One Miniature Japanese Hopping Robot

A Japanese mission to drop a hopping robot on top of a speeding asteroid has ended in failure.

The robot was lost in space shortly after being launched from its mothership, Hyabusa, which is now hovering above the asteroid Itokawa. The robot, known as Minerva (for Micro/ Nano Experimental Robot Vehicle for Asteroid), was designed to jump around on the asteroid's surface, taking pictures and temperature measurements before beaming them back.

Later this week, Hyabusa will fire a pellet at the asteroids' surface and bring fragments from the impact back to Earth.