A small capsule containing asteroid ground samples that was dropped from 136,700 miles into space by the Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa2 landed as planned in the Australian Outback on Sunday, December 6th.
JAXA member takes over a capsule thrown by Hayabusa2 in Woomera, South Australia
WHAT IS THE HAYABUSA2 MISSION?
Launched on December 3, 2014, the unmanned Hayabusa2 spacecraft twice touched the Ryugu asteroid, more than 190 million miles away.
The extremely rocky surface of the asteroid forced the mission team to review landing plans, but the spacecraft successfully collected data and ground samples in the 1½ years spent near Ryugu after arriving there in June 2018.
At its first touchdown in February 2019, the spacecraft collected surface surface samples, and Hayabusa2 later threw a crater into the asteroid’s surface and then collected underground samples from the asteroid.
Japan hopes to use the expertise and technology used in Hayabusa2 in the future, probably in its mission to return the 2024 MMX sample to a Martian month.
WHY AN ASTEROID?
Asteroids are among the oldest objects in the solar system and therefore may contain clues about the evolution of the Earth. Scientists say that this requires the study of evidence from such celestial objects.
Ryugu in Japanese means “Dragon’s Palace”, the name of a seabed castle in a Japanese folk tale.
Japan’s research on asteroids can also help develop resources and find ways to protect the Earth from large meteorite collisions, said Hitoshi Kuninaka, JAXA’s vice president.
WHAT’S INSIDE THE CAPSULE?
The pan-shaped capsule, about 15 inches in diameter, contains soil samples taken from two different places on the asteroid.
Some gases could also be incorporated into the samples. The preliminary inspection at a laboratory in Australia was aimed at extracting and analyzing the gas.
The capsule is due to return to Japan on Tuesday. He will be taken to the JAXA research center in Sagamihara, near Tokyo.
WHAT CAN ASTEROID SAMPLES TELL US?
Scientists say that the samples, especially those taken from under the asteroid’s surface, contain data from 4.6 billion years ago unaffected by space radiation and other environmental factors.
They are particularly interested in studying the organic materials in the samples to find out how they are distributed in the solar system and whether or how they are related to life on Earth.
JAXA President Hiroshi Yamakawa said he believes the analysis of the samples can help explain the origin of the solar system and how water helped bring life to Earth.
Fragments brought back from Ryugu can also tell the collision and thermal history.
After about a year, some of the evidence will be shared by NASA and other international scientists.
About 40% of this will be stored for future research. JAXA Mission Manager Makoto Yoshikawa said just 0.1 grams of the sample may be enough to carry out the planned research, although he said more would be better.
WHY IS HAYABUSA A GREAT OFFER FOR JAPAN?
Hayabusa2 is the successor to the original Hayabusa mission launched by Japan in 2003.
After a series of technical failures, it sent back samples from another asteroid, Itokawa, in 2010. The spacecraft was burned in a failed re-entry, but the capsule reached Earth.
Many Japanese were impressed by the return of the first spaceship Hayabusa, which was considered a miracle, given all the trouble.
JAXA’s subsequent missions to Venus and Mars were also flawed. Tsuda said that the Hayabusa2 team used all the hard lessons learned from previous missions to get a result 100 times better than “perfect”.
Some members of the public who watched the event shed tears as the capsule successfully entered the atmosphere, burning briefly in a fireball.
WHAT’S NEXT?
About an hour after the capsule separated 220,000 kilometers (136,700 miles) from Earth, Hayabusa2 was sent on another mission to the smaller asteroid, 1998KY26.
This is an 11-year one-way trip. The mission is to study possible ways to prevent the collision of the great meteorite with Earth.