A small capsule containing soil samples of asteroids that the Japanese Hayabusa2 spacecraft dropped from 136,700 miles into space landed as planned at the Australian Outback on Sunday 6 December.
A JAXA member recovers a capsule launched by Hayabusa2 in Woomera, South Australia
WHAT IS THE HAYABUSA2 MISSION?
Launched on December 3, 2014, the unmanned Hayabusa2 spacecraft twice touched the asteroid Ryugu, more than 190 million miles away.
The extremely rocky surface of the asteroid forced the mission team to review the landing plans, but the spacecraft successfully collected data and soil samples during the 1½ years it spent near Ryugu after get there in June 2018.
In its first touchdown in February 2019, the spacecraft collected surface dust samples and subsequently Hayabusa2 exploded a crater on the asteroid’s surface and then collected underground samples of the asteroid.
Japan hopes to use the experience and technology used in the Hayabusa2 in the future, perhaps in its mission to return MMX samples from 2024 to a Martian moon.
WHY AN ASTEROID?
Asteroids are among the oldest objects in the solar system and may therefore contain clues about the evolution of the Earth. Scientists say this requires studying samples of these celestial objects.
Ryugu in Japanese means “Dragon Palace”, the name of a seabed castle in a Japanese folk tale.
Japanese research on asteroids may also contribute to resource development and find ways to protect Earth from collisions with large meteorites, said Hitoshi Kuninaka, vice president of JAXA.
WHAT IS 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 may also be embedded in the samples. Preliminary inspection in a laboratory in Australia consisted of extracting and analyzing the gas.
The capsule will return to Japan on Tuesday. It will be taken to the JAXA research center in Sagamihara, near Tokyo.
WHAT CAN ASTEROID SAMPLES DESIGN US?
Scientists say the samples, especially the ones below 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 organic materials in 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 origins of the solar system and how water helped bring the Earth to life.
The returned fragments of Ryugu can also explain its collision and its thermal history.
After about a year, some of the samples will be shared with NASA and other international scientists.
Approximately 40% of them 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 that Japan launched in 2003.
After a series of technical setbacks, it sent 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 Hayabusa spacecraft, which was considered a miracle given all the problems it encountered.
JAXA’s subsequent Venus and Mars missions were also faulty. Tsuda said the Hayabusa2 team used all the hard lessons learned from previous missions to achieve a result 100 times better than “perfect.”
Some members of the audience who watched the event shed tears as the capsule successfully entered the atmosphere, briefly bursting into a ball of fire.
WHAT’S NEXT?
About an hour after separating from the capsule 220,000 kilometers (136,700 miles) from Earth, Hayabusa2 was sent on another mission to the smallest asteroid, 1998KY26.
It is a one-way trip and a one-way trip. The mission is to study possible ways to prevent large meteorites from colliding with Earth.