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Last week, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) dropped an explosive head on the surface of the asteroid 162173 Ryugu. You might think it was the first line of a fully readable science fiction novel, but that's quite true. The operation began on April 4, when the Hayabusa2 The spacecraft sent its small impactor to the cabin (SCI) on the surface of Ryugu, then exploded it to create a crater.
This is the last phase of the Hayabusa2The mission is to study and retrieve samples of an object near the Earth (NEO) in the hope of learning more about the formation and evolution of the solar system. This began shortly after Ryugu's appointment in July 2018, which had deployed two rovers on the surface of the asteroid.
The shipment then followed the box-shaped MASCOT (Mobile Asteroid Surface Surface), which was analyzing samples of the asteroid regolith in two locations. Last February, the spacecraft hit the ground for the first time, allowing it to collect the first samples of the mission.
Before being able to recover the samples, however, the spacecraft had to break the surface material by firing it with "balls" – 5 gram impactors made of tantalum metal that are drawn from the spacecraft's sampling cornet to a speed of 300 m / s (670 mph). The same principle is the basis of SCI, a system consisting of a 2.5 kg (5.5 lb) copper projectile.
This "bullet" is accelerated by a hollow charge containing 4.5 kg (about 10 lbs.) Of plasticized explosive HMX (also called octogen). This compound is the same used by military forces as the detonator in nuclear weapons, plastic explosives and rocket propellants. Combined with TNT, he creates Octol, another military-grade explosive used in anti-tank missiles and laser-guided bombs.
After sending the SCI to the surface, the spacecraft has reached a safe altitude to avoid any damage caused by the explosion. The SCI then exploded, sending a copper plate to the surface at 1.9 km per second (1.2 miles per second). The crater size that it generates will depend entirely on the composition of the surface material.
the Hayabusa2 captured the launch of the SCI with its Wide Angle Optical Navigation Camera (ONC-W1), which they shared on the mission's official twitter page. The explosion was also captured by a deployable camera – the DCAM3 – that the probe deployed closer to the asteroid to monitor the impact experience.
The camera was destroyed during the process, but the images she took will help Hayabusa2 locate the crater once it gets closer to the surface. This will happen once all debris is installed. At that time, the mission team will determine whether it is safe or not to obtain a sample of the newly created crater.
If this recovery is considered too dangerous, the probe will be directed to one of the pre-existing craters of the asteroid. The team hopes, however, to be able to take samples from the crater it has created, as the materials discovered by the explosion have not been exposed to space, or subjected to radiation or bad weather for years. billions of years.
This corresponds to a central objective of the mission, which is to examine the materials left by the formation of the solar system, approx. 4.5 billion years ago. As such, the samples from within would be the most reliable source for discovering what types of materials were present at the beginning of the solar system.
By examining these materials, scientists are looking to learn more about key issues, including how water and organic materials have been distributed in our solar system. This would have occurred during the late heavy bombardment, about 4.1 to 3.8 billion years ago, and was intrinsic to the emergence of life on Earth.
By examining samples of asteroids from this period, scientists could also theorize with greater confidence where other materials needed for life (as we know them) could have been distributed. And soon, Hayabusa2 we will provide examples of evidence that will help answer these questions.
And to say that it was made possible thanks to the same technology used to blow up tanks! In the meantime, the Spaceship provides real-time images of the asteroid with the ONC-W1 camera. Once he has completed the scientific operations around the asteroid, which should end in December 2019, he will return to Earth – scheduled for December 2020.
What we can learn from the samples he takes home is sure to be exciting!
Further reading: Inverse, JAXA
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