The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) showed off a collection of samples from the asteroid Ryugu on Thursday following the return of the Hayabusa2 probe.
The curation work for the Ryugu sample is steadily progressing. On December 21, sample catcher chambers B & C were opened and then the contents of chambers A & C were moved to the collection containers in the photo. The largest particles in chamber C are about 1 cm! pic.twitter.com/yWO15cKhG9
— HAYABUSA2@JAXA (@haya2e_jaxa) December 24, 2020
The black, gravelly samples from Ryugu contain a whole bunch of small chips collected from the asteroid’s subsurface. The photo on the right of the capsule C sample has a graphic that points out an artificial, metallic objectJAXA explains that it is possibly aluminum from the probe’s sampler horn that came off of the projectile explosive used to get below the surface. Read more…
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Source : Samples from Ryugu asteroid revealed after delivery to Earth
