On December 5, 2020, the Hayabusa 2 mission of the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) sent home a sample capsule containing debris from Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA) 162173 Ryugu. This was the culmination of the probe’s first six years in space, which was launched in December 2014 and scheduled to meet Ryugu in June 2018. While the probe has its new targets in sight, scientists will be busy analyzing the Ryugu sample.
One thing they noticed immediately after opening the shell on Monday (December 21) was the black sand dust lining the outer shell of the capsule. According to a statement from JAXA, the black sand is material that comes from the surface of Ryugu. In view of what is in sample chamber A, the amount of material obtained from Hayabusa 2 appears to be significantly greater than previously assumed.
That discovery comes just a week after the mission’s re-entry pod returns to Earth. It and the sample it contained were obtained in Woomera, Australia on December 6, 2020 after entering the atmosphere and creating a bright streak in the sky. On December 8, the capsule was delivered to the JAXA Sagamihara campus, where technicians began carefully collecting the sample.
Released by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), this photo shows grains of black sand (R) collected by the asteroid Ryugu. Image credit: JAXA
On Dec. 14, the agency confirmed in a statement that a sample of black sand grains believed to have come from the asteroid was found in the sample container. They were apparently attached to the entrance of the sample catcher, the container in which the samples were kept. JAXA also posted a picture of what the sooty material looked like (see above). As they said:
“JAXA has confirmed that samples from the asteroid Ryugu are in the sample container. We were able to confirm black, sand-like particles that are believed to have originated from the asteroid Ryugu. We will continue our work to open the sample catcher in the sample container. The sample is taken and analyzed. “
A day later, JAXA issued two statements. The first announced confirmation that the samples received are indeed from the asteroid Ryugu. The second explanation shared the results of an analysis with gas that was also present in sample container A. After performing mass spectrometry tests in the Quick Look Facility (QLF), which was set up on December 7, 2020 in the Woomera Local Headquarters. JAXA has confirmed that the gas came from the asteroid.
To confirm the initial results, a similar analysis was conducted on December 10th and 11th at the Extraterrestrial Sample Curation Center (ESCuC) on the JAXA Sagamihara campus. These tests gave the same result, indicating that the gases are, in fact, the result of material obtained as part of the Ryugu sample that was sublimated during transport back to Earth.
Sample container structure. Image credit: JAXA
This is the first time a return sample has contained material from deep within a space object, not to mention material from the object that was in a gaseous state. JAXA also stated in its second statement that the analysis team will continue to examine the gaseous sample and perform “a detailed analysis of the molecular and isotopic composition of the collected gas”.
In the meantime, JAXA will “open sample chambers B and C in the sample container wider and the sample will be taken and analyzed by the curation group and the first analysis team,” they said. These samples contain both surface dust and pristine material from below the surface that was kicked up by an impactor (which was essentially an anti-tank warhead) fired by the probe.
During the orbit around Ryugu, Hayabusa 2 deployed four small rovers – including MASCOT and Minerva-II – on the surface of the asteroid to study and analyze the geological context of the samples collected. Because of their minimal gravity and extremely uneven surfaces, these rovers were designed to move around rather than relying on legs, wheels, or treads.
These samples are our first look at a six year sample return mission and the follow-up to the Hayabusa mission that met the asteroid Itokawa in September 2005 and returned a sample to Earth by June 2010. Then and Now The purpose of these missions is to study material left over from the formation of the solar system (which asteroids are essentially).
In the sample chamber A. Photo credits: JAXA
The surface and interior of these asteroids not only reveal things about the earliest periods of the Solar System, but also document their later evolution over the past 4.5 billion years. To obtain samples from Ryugu, Hayabusa 2 had to be approximately 300 km from Earth to meet with the NEA Ryugu, which went beyond Earth orbit.
Once all samples are taken from Hayabusa 2 and analyzed, half will be shared by JAXA, NASA, and other international organizations. The rest are kept for future study as advances in technology allow for more detailed analysis and study. In the meantime, Hayabusa 2 is meeting with his next goals as part of his mission expansion.
This expansion was granted in September 2020 to include the tholine-rich (reddish-colored) asteroid 2001 CC21 and the water-rich NEA 1998 KY26, which is believed to be composed of material from several asteroids that have collided in the past. The probe will fly these asteroids past in July 2026 and July 2031, respectively.
Not only do these icy asteroids reveal things about the history of our solar system, but they can also tell us how water spread across planets billions of years ago (making life possible)!
Further reading: Phys.org, JAXA
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