Black 'sand-like' asteroid dust found in capsule brought back by Japanese probe
Black sandy dust within a capsule taken to Earth by a Japanese space probe is certainly from the distant asteroid Ryugu, scientists confirmed after opening it about Monday.
The discovery comes a week following the Hayabusa-2 probe dropped off its capsule, which entered the atmosphere in a streak of mild before landing in the Australian desert and then being transported to Japan.
JAPAN space agency (JAXA) released a picture of a tiny deposit of sooty materials inside metal box -- a first glimpse at the results of an unprecedented six-year objective for the unmanned probe.
The dust was within the capsule's outer shell, agency officials said, with more substantial samples expected to be found if they open the inner container, a delicate task.
"JAXA offers confirmed that samples produced from the asteroid Ryugu are inside sample container," the company said. "We could actually confirm black, sand-like particles which happen to be believed to be produced from the asteroid Ryugu."
Hayabusa-2 travelled about 300 million kilometers (200 million miles) from Earth to accumulate the samples, which researchers hope could help shed light on the foundation of lifestyle and the forming of the universe.
The probe collected both surface dust and pristine material from below the top that was stirred up by firing an "impactor" in to the asteroid.
"We will continue our work to open up the sample-catcher within the sample container. Extraction of the sample and analysis of it'll be completed," JAXA said.
50 % of Hayabusa-2's samples will come to be shared between JAXA, US space firm NASA and other international agencies, and the others kept for future analysis as advances are created in analytic technology.
But work is not over for the probe, which will now begin an extended mission targeting two different asteroids.
Source: japantoday.com
