[Epoch Times, February 15, 2022](The Epoch Times reporter Di Rui compiled and reported) An asteroid probe sent by Japanese scientists successfully returned samples collected on the asteroid Ryugu in 2020. The research report on the test results was published in the journal Science on February 10.
Ryuguxing is 280 million kilometers away from the earth, making it an asteroid that is relatively close to the earth. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) sent the Hayabusa 2 probe in 2014, which arrived and landed on Ryugu Star in 2018, and collected some samples of its surface and subsurface layers, totaling 5.4 grams, Return to Earth in 2020.
With these samples, scientists can use a variety of advanced instruments on Earth to probe the composition and composition of the asteroid. The study revealed that Ryugu is covered with “long, flat rubble.”
The researchers also compared the collected samples with images taken by Hayabusa2 to see how well the collected samples represented the material on the asteroid. Hayabusa2 previously flew in the orbit of Ryugu for 16 months and landed twice in total, taking many close-up photos of the asteroid.
“The returned samples are a good representation of the material forms on Ryugu,” cosmochemist Shogo Tachibana of the University of Tokyo, one of the principal investigators, said in an email to space.com. The long small stones are likely fragments that fell from the large stones, and this is the most typical rubble on the surface of Ryugu Star. And now, these rubble are in sight.”
The researchers said that these samples were returned to Earth from space, all the way to the laboratory, and finally put into equipment with strict isolation measures for research. Every link is exciting.
Shogo Tachibana participated in the Hayabusa 2 project throughout the whole process, and he has a deep understanding. “There have been a lot of nerve-racking moments… For me, the safe retrieval of the sample compartment and the opening of the sample compartment to quickly remove the sample is the most heart-wrenching moment. We have to open the sample compartment as quickly as possible, take out sample particles inside.”
After successfully delivering the samples collected from Ryugu Star to Earth, Hayabusa2’s mission is not over, and it continues its journey to explore the next asteroid. It is expected to fly by the asteroid 2001 CC21, which is about 700 meters in diameter, in 2026; it will visit the asteroid 1998 KY26 in 2031. However, the probe will not need to land on the two asteroids by then. ◇#
Responsible editor: Ye Ziwei