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A Japanese spacecraft is approaching Earth and could provide clues to the solar system’s origin with soil samples and data from a distant asteroid, a space agency official said Friday.
The Hayabusa 2 probe is expected to leave the asteroid Ryuku, about 300 million kilometers (180 million miles) from Earth a year ago, reach Earth and drop a capsule containing valuable samples in South Australia on 6 December.
Scientists from the Japan Space Research Organization believe that samples taken from the asteroid’s surface, in particular, contain valuable data that is unaffected by space radiation and other environmental factors.
Makoto Yoshikawa, head of the Hayabusa 2 project, said scientists are particularly interested in analyzing organic matter in Riyaku soil samples.
“Organic matter is the origin of life on Earth, but we still don’t know where (the star) came from,” Yoshikawa said. “We hope to trace the origin of life on Earth by analyzing the details of the organic matter that Hayabusa 2 reported.”
Jaxa, the space agency, plans to drop the prototype of the capsule in a remote and sparsely populated area of space 220,000 kilometers (136,700 miles) in Australia, which is a major challenge that requires precise control. The capsule, protected by a heat shield, turns into a fireball when it reenters the atmosphere 200 kilometers (125 miles) above the ground. About 10 kilometers (6 miles) off the ground, a parachute will open to land and light signals will be sent to indicate its location.
Jaxa crews installed satellite antennas at various locations in the target area to capture signals, also preparing marine radars, drones and helicopters to assist in the search and rescue mission.
Without these measurements, it would be “very difficult” to find a pan-shaped capsule 40 centimeters (15 inches) in diameter, Yoshikawa told reporters.
For Hayabusa 2, this is not the end of the work begun in 2014. After dropping the capsule, she returned to space, 10 years to another small distant asteroid called 1998KY26.
Hayabusa 2 has landed on Ryuu twice, despite its rocky surface, successfully collecting data and samples in the 10 years since he arrived there in June 2018.
In First Touchdown in February 2019, he collected surface dust samples. In July, for the first time in space history, he collected soil samples from the asteroid, which had previously formed by blowing up the asteroid’s surface after landing in a crater.
Scientists say the asteroid soil samples contain traces of carbon and organic matter. Jaxa hopes to find clues as to how the materials are distributed in the solar system and are related to life on Earth.
Asteroids that orbit the sun but are much smaller than planets are one of the oldest objects in the solar system, so they can help explain how the Earth was formed.
It took the probe 3 years to reach Ryu, but the journey home was very short due to Ryu’s and Earth’s current positions.
Ryuku in Japanese means “Dragon Palace”, the name of an underwater castle in Japanese folklore.
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