Japanese space experts on Thursday said that they would examine soil samples brought back from an asteroid in an attempt to find the source of heat that altered the celestial body.
Scientists at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said that they have made a preliminary examination of 5.4g of soil, far more than the minimum 0.1g sample they had hoped for, which the Hayabusa2 spacecraft brought back in December last year from the asteroid Ryugu, more than 300 million kilometers from Earth.
About 3g of the black granules are from Ryugu’s surface and were gathered when Hayabusa2 touched down on the asteroid in April 2019.
Photo: AP
About 2g of larger fragments, up to about 1cm, were obtained from under the surface in a crater made by Hayabusa2 when it landed a second time three months later.
Based on near-infrared spectrophotometer analysis of data transmitted by Hayabusa2, scientists at the agency found that the asteroid was exposed to extremely high temperatures on its surface and underground, possibly caused by an internal source of heat or planetary collisions rather than heat from the sun.
Kohei Kitazato, a University of Aizu planetary scientist working with the agency, said that his team found indications of heat exceeding 300°C on the asteroid surface and underground.
The soil underground would not reach that temperature from the heat of the sun alone, suggesting that radiative internal heat or planetary collisions affected Ryugu when it was still part of a parent body, causing the evaporation of its water, Kitazato said.
His earlier study, jointly conducted with academics from Brown University in Rhode Island and more than 30 other institutions, was published last month in the journal Nature Astronomy.
The agency is continuing an initial examination of the asteroid samples ahead of fuller studies next year.
Scientists are also to examine possible traces of organic matter in hopes that they will provide insights into the history of the solar system.
Following studies in Japan, some of the samples are to be shared with NASA and other international space agencies for additional research.
Hayabusa2 is continuing on an 11-year expedition to another small and distant asteroid, 1998KY26, to study possible defenses against meteorites that are considered a potential threat of colliding with Earth, while conducting tests that could be used in subsequent Japanese space missions, including its planned 2024 MMX sample-return mission from one of the Martian moons.
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