Pebbles and sand on asteroid (162173) Ryugu: In situ observation and particles returned to Earth

S Tachibana^{1

2}, H Sawada², R Okazaki³, Y Takano⁴, K Sakamoto^{1

2}, Y N Miura⁵, C Okamoto⁶, H Yano², S Yamanouchi³, P Michel⁷, Y Zhang⁷, S Schwartz^{8

9}, F Thuillet⁷, H Yurimoto¹⁰, T Nakamura¹¹, T Noguchi^{3

12}, H Yabuta¹³, H Naraoka³, A Tsuchiyama^{14

15}, N Imae¹⁶, K Kurosawa¹⁷, A M Nakamura⁶, K Ogawa¹⁸, S Sugita¹, T Morota¹, R Honda¹⁹, S Kameda²⁰, E Tatsumi^{1

21}, Y Cho¹, K Yoshioka¹, Y Yokota², M Hayakawa², M Matsuoka², N Sakatani²⁰, M Yamada¹⁷, T Kouyama²², H Suzuki²³, C Honda²⁴, T Yoshimitsu², T Kubota², H Demura²⁴, T Yada², M Nishimura², K Yogata², A Nakato², M Yoshitake², A I Suzuki^{25

26}, S Furuya^{1

2}, K Hatakeda²⁵, A Miyazaki², K Kumagai²⁵, T Okada², M Abe^{2

27}, T Usui², T R Ireland²⁸, M Fujimoto², T Yamada², M Arakawa⁶, H C Connolly Jr^{8

29}, A Fujii², S Hasegawa², N Hirata²⁴, N Hirata⁶, C Hirose³⁰, S Hosoda², Y Iijima², H Ikeda², M Ishiguro³¹, Y Ishihara¹⁸, T Iwata^{2

27}, S Kikuchi^{2

17}, K Kitazato²⁴, D S Lauretta⁸, G Libourel⁷, B Marty³², K Matsumoto^{33

34}, T Michikami³⁵, Y Mimasu², A Miura^{2

27}, O Mori², K Nakamura-Messenger³⁶, N Namiki^{33

34}, A N Nguyen³⁶, L R Nittler³⁷, H Noda^{33

34}, R Noguchi^{2

38}, N Ogawa¹⁸, G Ono³⁰, M Ozaki^{2

27}, H Senshu¹⁷, T Shimada¹⁸, Y Shimaki², K Shirai², S Soldini³⁹, T Takahashi⁴⁰, Y Takei^{2

30}, H Takeuchi^{2

27}, R Tsukizaki², K Wada¹⁷, Y Yamamoto^{2

27}, K Yoshikawa³⁰, K Yumoto¹, M E Zolensky³⁶, S Nakazawa², F Terui², S Tanaka^{2

27}, T Saiki², M Yoshikawa^{2

27}, S Watanabe⁴¹, Y Tsuda^{2

42}

Affiliations

¹ UTokyo Organization for Planetary and Space Science-Department of Earth and Planetary Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan.
² Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Sagamihara 252-5210, Japan.
³ Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 812-8581, Japan.
⁴ Biogeochemistry Research Center, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, Kanagawa 237-0061, Japan.
⁵ Earthquake Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0032, Japan.
⁶ Department of Planetology, Kobe University, Kobe 657-8501, Japan.
⁷ Université Côte d'Azur, Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, Laboratoire Lagrange, F-06304 Nice CEDEX 4, France.
⁸ Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85705, USA.
⁹ Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-0810, Japan.
¹¹ Department of Earth Sciences, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8578, Japan.
¹² Division of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.
¹³ Department of Earth and Planetary Systems Science, Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima 739-8526, Japan.
¹⁴ Research Organization of Science and Technology, Ritsumeikan University, Kusatsu 525-8577, Japan.
¹⁵ Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China.
¹⁶ Polar Science Resources Center, National Institute of Polar Research, Tokyo 190-8518, Japan.
¹⁷ Planetary Exploration Research Center, Chiba Institute of Technology, Narashino 275-0016, Japan.
¹⁸ JAXA Space Exploration Center, JAXA, Sagamihara 252-5210, Japan.
¹⁹ Department of Information Science, Kochi University, Kochi 780-8520, Japan.
²⁰ Department of Physics, Rikkyo University, Tokyo 171-8501, Japan.
²¹ Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, University of La Laguna, E-38205 Tenerife, Spain.
²² Information Technology and Human Factors, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Tokyo 135-0064, Japan.
²³ Department of Physics, Meiji University, Kawasaki 214-8571, Japan.
²⁴ Aizu Research Center for Space Informatics, University of Aizu, Aizu-Wakamatsu 965-8580, Japan.
²⁵ Marine Works Japan Ltd., Yokosuka 237-0063, Japan.
²⁶ Department of Economics, Toyo University, Tokyo 112-8606, Japan.
²⁷ Department of Space and Astronautical Science, The Graduate University for Advanced Studies, SOKENDAI, Hayama 240-0193, Japan.
²⁸ School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia.
²⁹ Department of Geology, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ 08028, USA.
³⁰ Research and Development Directorate, JAXA, Sagamihara 252-5210, Japan.
³¹ Department of Physics and Astronomy, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea.
³² Université de Lorraine, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, Centre de Recherches Pétrographiques et Géochimiques, F-54000 Nancy, France.
³³ National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Mitaka 181-8588, Japan.
³⁴ Department of Astronomical Science, The Graduate University for Advanced Studies, SOKENDAI, Hayama 240-0193, Japan.
³⁵ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kindai University, Higashi-Hiroshima 739-2116, Japan.
³⁶ NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 77058, USA.
³⁷ Carnegie Institution for Science, Washington, DC 20015, USA.
³⁸ Department of Science, Niigata University, Niigata 950-2181, Japan.
³⁹ Department of Mechanical, Materials and Aerospace Engineering, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 3BX, UK.
⁴⁰ NEC Corporation, Tokyo 183-8501, Japan.
⁴¹ Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8601, Japan.
⁴² Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan.

PMID: 35143255
DOI: 10.1126/science.abj8624

Pebbles and sand on asteroid (162173) Ryugu: In situ observation and particles returned to Earth

S Tachibana et al. Science. 2022.

. 2022 Mar 4;375(6584):1011-1016.

doi: 10.1126/science.abj8624. Epub 2022 Feb 10.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ UTokyo Organization for Planetary and Space Science-Department of Earth and Planetary Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan.
² Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Sagamihara 252-5210, Japan.
³ Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 812-8581, Japan.
⁴ Biogeochemistry Research Center, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, Kanagawa 237-0061, Japan.
⁵ Earthquake Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0032, Japan.
⁶ Department of Planetology, Kobe University, Kobe 657-8501, Japan.
⁷ Université Côte d'Azur, Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, Laboratoire Lagrange, F-06304 Nice CEDEX 4, France.
⁸ Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85705, USA.
⁹ Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-0810, Japan.
¹¹ Department of Earth Sciences, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8578, Japan.
¹² Division of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.
¹³ Department of Earth and Planetary Systems Science, Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima 739-8526, Japan.
¹⁴ Research Organization of Science and Technology, Ritsumeikan University, Kusatsu 525-8577, Japan.
¹⁵ Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China.
¹⁶ Polar Science Resources Center, National Institute of Polar Research, Tokyo 190-8518, Japan.
¹⁷ Planetary Exploration Research Center, Chiba Institute of Technology, Narashino 275-0016, Japan.
¹⁸ JAXA Space Exploration Center, JAXA, Sagamihara 252-5210, Japan.
¹⁹ Department of Information Science, Kochi University, Kochi 780-8520, Japan.
²⁰ Department of Physics, Rikkyo University, Tokyo 171-8501, Japan.
²¹ Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, University of La Laguna, E-38205 Tenerife, Spain.
²² Information Technology and Human Factors, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Tokyo 135-0064, Japan.
²³ Department of Physics, Meiji University, Kawasaki 214-8571, Japan.
²⁴ Aizu Research Center for Space Informatics, University of Aizu, Aizu-Wakamatsu 965-8580, Japan.
²⁵ Marine Works Japan Ltd., Yokosuka 237-0063, Japan.
²⁶ Department of Economics, Toyo University, Tokyo 112-8606, Japan.
²⁷ Department of Space and Astronautical Science, The Graduate University for Advanced Studies, SOKENDAI, Hayama 240-0193, Japan.
²⁸ School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia.
²⁹ Department of Geology, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ 08028, USA.
³⁰ Research and Development Directorate, JAXA, Sagamihara 252-5210, Japan.
³¹ Department of Physics and Astronomy, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea.
³² Université de Lorraine, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, Centre de Recherches Pétrographiques et Géochimiques, F-54000 Nancy, France.
³³ National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Mitaka 181-8588, Japan.
³⁴ Department of Astronomical Science, The Graduate University for Advanced Studies, SOKENDAI, Hayama 240-0193, Japan.
³⁵ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kindai University, Higashi-Hiroshima 739-2116, Japan.
³⁶ NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 77058, USA.
³⁷ Carnegie Institution for Science, Washington, DC 20015, USA.
³⁸ Department of Science, Niigata University, Niigata 950-2181, Japan.
³⁹ Department of Mechanical, Materials and Aerospace Engineering, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 3BX, UK.
⁴⁰ NEC Corporation, Tokyo 183-8501, Japan.
⁴¹ Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8601, Japan.
⁴² Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan.

PMID: 35143255
DOI: 10.1126/science.abj8624

Abstract

The Hayabusa2 spacecraft investigated the C-type (carbonaceous) asteroid (162173) Ryugu. The mission performed two landing operations to collect samples of surface and subsurface material, the latter exposed by an artificial impact. We present images of the second touchdown site, finding that ejecta from the impact crater was present at the sample location. Surface pebbles at both landing sites show morphological variations ranging from rugged to smooth, similar to Ryugu's boulders, and shapes from quasi-spherical to flattened. The samples were returned to Earth on 6 December 2020. We describe the morphology of >5 grams of returned pebbles and sand. Their diverse color, shape, and structure are consistent with the observed materials of Ryugu; we conclude that they are a representative sample of the asteroid.

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Pebbles and sand on asteroid (162173) Ryugu: In situ observation and particles returned to Earth

Affiliations

Pebbles and sand on asteroid (162173) Ryugu: In situ observation and particles returned to Earth

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

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Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources

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