An artificial object was found in soil samples from the asteroid Ryugu. Like this?

What is the mission that delivers samples from an asteroid?

Hayabusa-2 is a mission from JAXA (Japanese

Aerospace Exploration Agency). It is a continuation of the Hayabusa mission, the country's first mission to an asteroid, which will return from space travel with samples for research.

During the mission, the Hayabusa spacecraftsent to collect soil samples from the asteroid Itokawa in May 2003, where he got two years later, in 2005. As a result, the mission ended successfully in June 2010 - the materials from Itokawa became the first samples of asteroids ever collected in space.

The C-class asteroids the missions explore are dark, carbonaceous objects. This is the most common class of asteroids: their spectrum is very similar to stony chondritic meteorites.

The chemical composition, in turn, is close tothe composition of the nebula from which the Sun was formed and which served as material for the protoplanetary disk. However, C-type asteroids lack hydrogen, helium and other volatile elements. Mineral resources are possible in such asteroids.

Japanese research probe Hayabusa-2studied the asteroid Ryugu, collected samples from it and, having traveled more than 220 thousand km from Earth, dropped a special capsule with scientific materials from the surface of the celestial body. 

What did you want to find on the asteroid Ryugu?

Asteroid 1999 JU3 - better known as Ryugu - is a space object about 920 m long. It is of particular interest to researchers.

The fact is that Ryugu is approximately 4.5 billion years old.Measurements taken from Earth suggest that the asteroid's rock may have been in contact with water throughout its existence. Scientists hope that this carbonaceous asteroid contains organic and hydrated minerals. This feature distinguishes Ryuga from Itokawa. 

Rotation of the asteroid Ryugu

When our solar system formed around5 billion years ago, most of the material from which it was created eventually became the Sun, and a fraction of a percent became planets and solid bodies, including asteroids.

The planets have changed greatly since the early days of the solar system due to geological processes, chemical changes, space bombardment and more.

But the asteroids remained practically intact. They are too small for global space processes. That is why they are of interest to researchers of the early solar system.

What samples were delivered from the asteroid to Earth?

On December 14, 2020, specialists from the JapaneseAerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) opened a container with soil from the asteroid Ryugu. The operation was carried out in a laboratory clean room at the Sagamihara Research Center.

We have confirmed that large amounts of sand as well as gases have been collected from the asteroid Ryugu. Samples from outside our planet, which we have long dreamed of, are now in our hands.

Yuichi Tsuda, JAXA Hayabusa-2 project manager

Scientists found in the entrance compartmenttrap container black granular formations. JAXA has confirmed that these particles got there during the sampling process from the asteroid Ryugu. This find, according to scientists, confirms the successful completion of the complex and long-term part of the Hayabusa-2 mission.

Dust from an asteroid inside the inlet compartment of a trap container

On December 15, 2020, Japanese scientists gained access to chamber A of the sample collection container. This compartment was filled with grains of sand from an asteroid.

The scientists explained that inside chamber A there aresoil samples from the first attempt to collect soil from Ryugu. During the Hayabusa-2 mission, two attempts were made to collect soil from the asteroid. Although the photo looks brown, JAXA experts say that all the particles inside are completely black.

The result of mass spectrometry of the collected gas insample container, carried out by QLF (Quick Look Facility) specialists in Australia on December 7, 2020, showed that the gas inside the container was different from the composition of the Earth’s atmosphere.

For additional confirmation, a similarthe analysis was carried out December 10-11 at the Center for the Study of Extraterrestrial Samples at the JAXA campus in Sagamihara. Scientists have confirmed that the gas in the sample container got there when samples were taken from the asteroid Ryugu.

JAXA explained that this is the world's first sample of material in a gaseous state, obtained by mankind from deep space.

What was unusual about the samples?

Among rock samples from the Ryugu asteroid,delivered to Earth, an unidentified artificial object was discovered. A message about this appeared on Twitter of the HAYABUSA2 mission. After the study, experts said that a particle of unknown origin was found in them.

After the materials were published insocial networks, users began arguing among themselves in the comments. The reason for this was that the shiny material very much resembles some object that is clearly not of natural origin.

Some of the users suggested that representatives of some extraterrestrial civilization had previously landed on Ryugu and during this trip they accidentally lost a part of their spacecraft.

What kind of unusual substance could it be?

Today experts are tryingestablish exactly where this artifact came from. According to the preliminary version, this is a piece of aluminum that broke off from the horn of the Japanese apparatus collecting samples on the asteroid. As suggested by researchers from the Japanese space agency JAXA, a fragment of the mechanism got into the soil samples collected by the Hayabusa-2 probe. However, this information has not yet been confirmed.

Scientists also clarified that the cameras were openedto capture samples B and C, and then the contents of chambers A and C were transferred to special containers. The largest particles in Chamber C are about 1 cm in diameter.

What's the bottom line?

JAXA specialists plan until the end of Decemberfurther open the container with samples. The bulk of the grains of sand from the Ryugu asteroid should be inside three special chambers inside the container. In January 2021, scientists will begin to study the resulting soil in a nitrogen atmosphere.

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