JAXA issued its first International Announcement of Opportunity forHAYABUSA Sample Investigation on 24 Jan. 2012. The proposals are expected to address the science questions that can be answered by analyzing the particle obtained from surface of asteroid Itokawa. Hayabusa is the sample return project of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) in 2003, which touched down in 2005 and retuned to the Earth in 2010. As part of achievements of the Initial analysis, 6 research reports were published in Science on August 26, 2011.

　　Important dates:

　　·Proposals Due: 7 March, 2012 15:00 (UTC)

　　·Completion of review: mid May, 2012

　　Proposals should be emailed to:hayabusa-proposal@restec.or.jp; For more information, please visit http://hayabusaao.isas.jaxa.jp/index.html。

　　（Supplied by Office of International Cooperation）