Despite the fact JAXA has delivered grains for scientific study all over the world, this particular permutation had not been attempted before. These Ryugu grains were for outreach, not science, so they could pass through the x-ray scanner without issue.
As you can imagine, this vastly simplifies the paperwork needed to clear airport security but... to what?
The scientific container looked very official, potentially resembling soil (bad), cultural heritage (bad), horrifyingly expensive (bad)...
After several calls to the airport, I was carrying a couple of worryingly brief customs papers that basically said:
NOT SOIL.
NO COMMERCIAL VALUE.
DO NOT EAT.
I cautiously joined the line for the customs desk at the airport, and tried to distract myself with the "customs quiz" that was playing inside a cute little display shaped like a dog.
It informed me that customs officers were allowed to carry weapons 😐
Reaching the front of the line, I flexed my fingers and wondered if I should start with my 40 minute or 60 minute talk on the Hayabusa2 mission.
Of course, the customs officials would doubtless need the big picture, so we should follow this up with the five lecture course I was preparing on 'water in the Universe'.
STAMP.
After a brief check of the box I was carrying, and a shocking lack of request for multi-hour talks, my customs forms were inked and I was shoo'd out.
@elizabethtasker
From your first post, I was wondering what the heck the experience through airport security was like - now I'm disappointed you didn't get to explain it all at great length!
Absolutely brilliant stuff - and I'm still grinning at these photos of a tiny Pelican case with a precious extraterrestrial cargo...
To avoid dusting the asteroid grain into oblivion, I carefully open the protective carry case and rotated the sample container 90 degrees before very very gently placing it flat inside one of the bins for the x-ray scanner.
The airport assistant promptly picked up the bin and plopped it with a bump on the conveyer belt 😑
I wondered if I could forego the people scanner and go through as baggage, curled in one of the bins, with the asteroid grains cradled to my belly.
Worried that no sane person would believe my story about carrying a rock from outer space, I had done something I had never done before in all my six years at the space agency.
I was wearing my official JAXA pin badge.
This small rectangular pin is given only to employees, and I was told I would have to return it when I left the agency or retired. Since it looked imminently losable, I'd hidden it in my desk.
But now (after some searching), it was pinned to the lapel of my Hayabusa2 jacket.
I did debate "forgetting" to remove my jacket as I walked through the airport scanner.
"Oh, did I forget to remove some metal? Ah... that would be my OFFICIAL JAXA BADGE! BECAUSE I'M REALLY FROM A SPACE AGENCY, AND WHEN YOU PULL MY WEIRD LUGGAGE FOR INSPECTION, IT REALLY IS AN ACTUAL ASTEROID."
Changing flights in Paris for Toulouse, the security scanner did beep.
My asteroid was about to be swabbed.
I prepared my laptop for a marathon Hayabusa2 mission extravaganza.
The airport attendant briefly ran a swab over the outside of the protective case, and along the inside padding. She didn't disturb the asteroid container, or even ask anything about it.
With a sigh, I slid my laptop back into my bag.
Then, I put the protective case into my backpack and merged with the crowds.
@elizabethtasker I like this kind of stories so much. When you consider the effort of bringing things to space and back to the Earth - airport security seems just rediculous.
One the other hand I'd loved to stand behind you in the queue, listened to your 4h talk on Ryugu, even though I'd missed my flight over it.
@pikarl If only someone had actually asked “what is this?” 😂 But it was all printed on the customs form and I got no questions except to show the box 📦
@pikarl@elizabethtasker
I've seen descriptions of Terribly Boring Official Forms filled out by astronauts travelling to the ISS - wonderfully surreal in their dull, bureaucratic familiarity. That intersection of the cosmic and the mundane...
It was kinda cool seeing the Ryugu shape when Hayabusa2 came closer and it was immediately clear to us that this had to be due to friction among rubble vs. centrifugal force. We could reproduce it nicely, but then this stalled when we weren't sure if, being from a very different field, we were just making fools of ourselves. But was interesting.
@elizabethtasker
I presume the now-empty protective case gets left at the museum - I can only imagine what sort of dramatic issues airport security might suddenly find with it on a return flight!
@at The value (or rather importance, as it's not really got commercial value) is why it must be hand carried on a flight (even though it's a regular flight), and we couldn't just send it recorded mail.
@internic It's fine, it was quite a public affair as I had to shout for help on my personal twitter! 😅
I'd entered the launch date as the "birthday" of the Hayabusa2 English twitter, but as soon as I hit "confirm", twitter said: "You're only 6. That's too young for twitter." and blocked the account.
VERY fortunately, twitter support (possibly influenced by many science journalists I'd reached out to who kindly also contacted support) unblocked us within a day.
@elizabethtasker you need to place it a bigger case to make look too heavy to toss around and a biological samples sticker. Where do you place it when you are on the plane?
@MaybeMyMonkeys A biological sample sticker was definitely to be avoided, even if it would mean the box was treated more carefully, as that's a lot more customs forms! The box slides under the plane seat.
Add comment