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Jaxa et al.
Scientists will map Ryugu to choose the best place to sample
A Japanese spacecraft has arrived at its target – a diamond-shaped asteroid or, according to some, a spinning top.
Hayabusa 2 has traveled to the Ryugu Space Rock since its launch from the Tanegashima Spaceport in 2014.
He is looking to study the close-up of the object and deliver Ryugu rocks and soil to Earth.
He will use explosives to propel a projectile into the Ryugu, digging a new sample below the surface.
Dr. Makoto Yoshikawa, director of the Hayabusa 2 mission, spoke about the plan now that the spacecraft had arrived at its destination.
"At first, we will study very carefully the characteristics of the surface, then we will select where to land, which means we get the surface material," he said.
A copper projectile, or "impactor" will separate from the spacecraft, floating on the surface of the asteroid. Once Hayabusa 2 is safe, an explosive charge explodes, causing the projectile into the surface.
"We have an impactor that will create a small crater on the surface of the Ryugu, maybe next spring, we will try to make a crater … so our spaceship will try to enter the crater to recover the basement. "
"But it's a very big challenge."
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JAXA / Akihiro Ikeshita
Hayabusa 2 will use a projectile to dig cool materials under Ryugu's surface
Why is this story important?
Scientists are studying asteroids to better understand the origins and evolution of our cosmic neighborhood, the solar system.
Asteroids are essentially remaining building materials from the formation of the solar system 4.6 billion years ago.
It is also believed that they may contain chemical compounds that could have been important to start life on Earth.
They contain water, organic compounds (rich in carbon) and precious metals. The last of them prompted several companies to look into the feasibility of asteroid extraction.
The space rock "Dumpling" comes into play
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Getty Images
By far, the asteroid seemed to look like a Japanese dango dumpling …
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Getty Images
… but now we have close-up images, scientists compare its shape to that of a spinning top
Dr. Yoshikawa, associate professor at the Japan Institute of Space Science and Astronautics (ISAS), said that Ryugu's form was unexpected.
He said asteroids with this general shape tended to spin quickly, completing a revolution every three or four hours. But the spinning period of Ryugu is relatively long – about 7.5 hours.
"Many scientists in our project think that in the past, the spin period was very short – it was spinning very fast – and the spin cycle slowed down, we do not know why it was spinning. slowed down, but it's a very interesting subject. " he told BBC News.
Hayabusa 2 will spend nearly a year and a half scrutinizing the 900-meter-wide space rock, which lies about 290 million kilometers (180 million miles) from Earth.
Meanwhile, he will aim to deploy several landing craft to the surface, including small rovers and a set of German construction instruments called Mascot (Mobile Asteroid Surface Scout).
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DLR
Hayabusa 2 carries a German construction lander called MASCOT
Ryugu is a type C asteroid, a type that is thought to be relatively primitive. This means that it can be rich in organic and hydrated minerals (those combined with water). Studying what Ryugu is doing could shed light on the molecular mix that has contributed to the origin of life on Earth.
The surface of the asteroid is likely to have been altered – altered by eons of exposure to the hostile environment of space. That's why the Hayabusa 2 scientists want to dig for a sample as fresh as possible.
The Lidar embedded instrument (light detection and telemetry) is used in part as a navigation sensor for rendezvous, approach and touchdown. It illuminates the target with pulsed laser light to measure the varying distances between the two objects. On Tuesday, scientists successfully used the Lidar to measure the distance between Hayabusa and the asteroid for the first time.
The mission will depart Ryugu in December 2019 with the intention of returning to Earth with asteroid samples in 2020.
The first Hayabusa spacecraft was launched in 2003 and reached the Itokawa asteroid in 2005.
Despite being hit by a series of mishaps, he returned to Earth in 2010 with a small amount of asteroid material.
A mission to return samples of American asteroids, Osiris-Rex, will meet the object 101955 Bennu in August.
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