TOKYO (AP) – Japan’s space agency said on Tuesday it had discovered the expected amount of soil and gas inside a small capsule. The country’s Hayapusa 2 spacecraft was brought in this month from a distant asteroid, which they hailed as a milestone for the planet. Research.
When the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency took out the container on Monday, its staff found some black particles sitting under the sample-catcher of the capsule. On Tuesday, scientists discovered soil and gas samples in a box that stored the first part of Hayabusa’s two touchdowns on an asteroid last year.
“We have confirmed the good amount of sand collected along with the gases from the asteroid Ryu,” Juixa Hayabusa 2 project manager Yuici Sooda said in a video message during an online news conference. “Models that came from outside our planet, which we have long dreamed of, are now in our hands.”
Sooda called the successful return of asteroid soil and gas models “a major scientific milestone.”
The Bon-shaped capsule, 40 centimeters (15 inches) in diameter, was dropped from space into a predetermined location in space in the sparsely populated Australian desert on December 6, at the end of a six-year voyage to Rio. 300 million kilometers (190 million miles) from Earth.
The capsule arrived in Japan last Tuesday, which scientists hope will provide insights into the origin of the solar system and life on Earth.
Joxa scientist Hirotaka Savada was the first to see the sample-catcher inside the capsule. Savada said he was “almost speechless” with surprise and delight when he saw that the samples included inside were not only the expected amount of dust, but also the amount of grains and pebbles.
The soil samples in the photos shown at Tuesday’s presentation looked like dark coffee grounds or black sesame.
Scientists believe that samples from the meteorite surface could provide information billions of years ago that were not affected by space radiation and other environmental factors. Jaxa scientists say they are particularly interested in the organic matter in the samples to find out how they are distributed in the solar system and how they relate to life on Earth.
The good news is that Nokoya University Earth and Environmental Scientist C-Ichiro Vatanabe, who works with Jaxa, has more sample materials than expected because it would expand the scope of the research.
Samples were collected from two touchdowns produced by Hayabusa 2 in Ryukyu last year. The landing was harder than expected as the asteroid has a very rocky surface.
The first landing samples were collected from the surface of Ryukyu and the second from underground. Each was stored separately. Jaxa said it would look at another box used for the Second Touch Down next week and then proceed with an initial test before inspecting the material.
Following research in Japan, some models will be shared with NASA and other international teams starting in 2022 for further research.