Asteroid dust collected by Japanese probe arrives on the planet
In a streak of light over the night time sky, samples collected from a distant asteroid arrived on Earth on Sunday after being dropped off by Japanese space probe Hayabusa-2.
Scientists hope the treasured samples, which are anticipated to amount to no more than 0.1 grams of material, could help shed mild on the origin of life and the formation of the universe.
The capsule carrying samples entered the atmosphere just before 2:30 a.m. Japan period, creating a shooting-star-like fireball since it entered Earth's atmosphere.
"Six years and it has finally get back to Earth," an official narrating a live broadcast of the arrival stated, as images confirmed officials from Japan's space organization JAXA cheering and pumping their fists in excitement.
The capsule separated from Hayabusa-2 on Saturday, when the refrigerator-sized space probe that introduced into space in 2014 was 220,000 kilometres away from Earth.
It landed in the southern Australian desert, where it had been recovered from a location spanning some 100 square kilometers, with search crews guided by beacons emitted as the capsule descended.
The samples were collected from the asteroid Ryugu, some 300 million kilometers from Earth (185 million kilometers) during two crucial phases of Hayabusa-2's objective last year.
The probe collected both area dust and pristine material from below the surface that was stirred up by firing an "impactor" in to the asteroid.
The material collected from the asteroid is thought to be unchanged because the time the universe was formed.
Much larger celestial bodies like Earth went through radical changes including heat and solidifying, changing the composition of the components on the surface and below.
But "in terms of small planets or small asteroids, these substances weren't melted, and therefore it really is believed that chemicals from 4.6 billion years back are still there," Hayabusa-2 mission supervisor Makoto Yoshikawa told reporters before the capsule arrived.
Scientists are especially keen to discover if the samples contain organic matter, which could have got helped seed lifestyle on Earth.
"We still have no idea the foundation of life on the planet and through this Hayabusa-2 objective, if we can research and understand these organic and natural materials from Ryugu, it could be that these organic and natural materials were the source of life on the planet," Yoshikawa said,
After the samples are recovered, they'll be processed in Australia and then flown back again to Japan.
Half the materials will end up being shared between JAXA, U.S. space firm NASA and other intercontinental organizations, and the rest kept for future analysis as advances are created in analytic technology.
The task however isn't over for Hayabusa-2, which was launched in December 2014.
The probe will now start an extended objective targeting two new asteroids.
Hayabusa-2 will complete some orbits around sunlight for around six years before approaching the to begin its goal asteroids -- known as 2001 CC21 -- in July 2026.
The probe won't get that close, but scientists hope it will be able to photograph it and that the fly-by can help develop knowledge about how exactly to safeguard Earth against asteroid impact.
Hayabusa-2 will head toward its key target, 1998 KY26, a ball-designed asteroid with a diameter of just 30 metres. When the probe arrives at the asteroid in July 2031, it'll be approximately 300 million kilometres from Earth.
It'll observe and photograph the asteroid, no easy job given that it really is spinning speedily, rotating on its axis about every 10 minutes.
But Hayabusa-2 is unlikely to land and accumulate samples, as it will most likely not have enough fuel to return them to Earth.
Source: japantoday.com
