An image that looks into the capsule is clearly visible at the edge of some object from Ryuku.
Jaxa
The Japanese space agency (Jaxa) says it has begun opening its return capsule to Earth with its historic Hayapusa 2 mission – and has confirmed the presence of asteroid models inside.
Today, Monday, December 14th, the capsule opened for the first time since touching the Australian exterior on December 6th following its journey through space.
On board, scientists will discover asteroid fragments called Ryuku, collected millions of kilometers away from Earth – and now Jaxa has confirmed that the mission is a success.
“A black granule sample believed to have been obtained from the asteroid Ryu was confirmed inside the sample container,” Jaxa said in a brief statement.
“These are considered particles attached to the sample catcher gateway (sample storage container).”
The entire capsule is not yet open, meaning there are still more asteroid specimens inside.
But confirming which samples were collected is fantastic news because Jaxa is not sure how successful the sample capture was.
Scientists will now spend many years studying the model and learning more about the origin of Ryu and the origin of life on Earth.
The orbit of the capsule re-entered our atmosphere.
AFP via Getty Images
Hayabusa 2 was launched in 2014 with the aim of collecting samples from Ryu – Japan’s second attempt to recover objects from an asteroid after the highly successful Hayabusa 1 in 2010.
Another mission, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx, is scheduled to return objects from another asteroid pen in 2023.
Following a four-year voyage, the spacecraft arrived in Ryukyu in June 2018. It then landed several lanyards on the surface before attempting to clear the objects it had touched.
It was shot twice, once in February 2019 and again in July 2019, shooting at a projectile surface, collecting a long sample hand above the capsule container.
The second event was particularly significant because the spacecraft had previously exploded a crater in the meteorite, exposing the beautiful surface material to the collection attempt.
Twice the spacecraft was collected from the surface of Ryukyu.
Associated Press
This object is supposed to last until the dawn of the solar system, revealing whether asteroids like Ryuku could have provided the building blocks of life on Earth.
Scientists are also interested in whether there is a lot of water in asteroids like Ryuku, as well as rocks like the mysterious seed called Sondrols.
However, there is no way to know if the two attempts to collect a sample for one space were successful.
Scientists expected to collect only one gram of material from the asteroid, but had to wait until the return of Hayabusa 2 – if any – was on the sample board.
The Hayabusa 2 spacecraft is the size of a small car.
Associated Press
After leaving the asteroid in November 2019, Hayabusa 2 finally returned to Earth in December 2020.
Here it released the sample capsule, which re-entered our atmosphere on December 6 and touched down in Australia, where it was collected by scientists.
After the touchdown, gas was absorbed from the capsule, which evaporated from the probable water-like asteroid.
Two days later, on December 8, the capsule was taken to the Sakamihara campus in Japan’s Sakamihara, Kanagawa prefecture, where scientists have now begun work on opening it.
The capsule container was as large as a toaster.
Associated Press
Meanwhile, Hayabusa 2 is back in space on an extended mission to explore the smallest asteroid ever visited by a spacecraft, which is no bigger than a blue whale.
But the main part of the task was always to send the model back to Earth. Now that the presence of a sample in the capsule has been confirmed, an exciting analysis of the sample may begin soon.
“We will continue to open the sample catcher in the sample container, and the quarantine and initial analysis team will take the sample and analyze it,” Jaxa said in a statement.
Who knows what secrets await from this fascinating mission.