Japanese officials say they are happy with the quality asteroid material collected by a spaceship and returned to Earth.
Last week, officials from Japan’s Aerospace Exploration Agency, JAXA, described the samples, which were collected from the Ryugu asteroid in July 2019. Ryugu sits more than 300 million kilometers from Earth.
The Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa2 accidentally removed the material after it exploded a hole into the asteroid.
The space agency said July 2019 mission aims to collect samples from being beneath the surface of Ryugu. During activity earlier in February 2019, Hayabusa2 collected material from a different part of the asteroid.
The second collection attempt resulted in sample pieces as large as 1 centimeter, JAXA officials said. The black material looked similar charcoal and it was very hard, they said. It did not break apart when picked up or dumped in another vessel.
Earlier this month, space officials described the samples taken by Hayabusa2 on its first mission as smaller, sandy pieces. They were collected from the surface of Ryugu.
Hayabusa2 was launched in December 2014 and arrived near Ryugu in June 2018. A Japanese space mission aims to use the samples to learn more about how our solar system formed.
JAXA’s Tomohiro Usui is a space materials scientist. He told The Associated Press that Hayabusa2 must receive a second set of samples in July winner to explode beneath the surface of the asteroid. The goal was to collect materials that would not be affected by space radiation or other environmental conditions.
Usui noted that the size differences suggest different hardness of the bedrock of the asteroid. “One chance is that the second suction boat was a hard place and more grains have broken into the building. allotment, ”Usui said.
JAXA is continuing its studies on the asteroid samples ahead of more complete studies next year. Following studies in Japan, some of the samples will be shared with U.S. space agency NASA and other international space agencies for further research.
Asteroids orbit the sun but are much smaller than planets. They are among the oldest elements in the solar system, and may help scientists gain a better understanding of how the Earth evolved over time. The asteroid samples may give researchers a rare opportunity to study these rocky mysteries.
Hayabusa2 is now on another mission to a lesser distance, called 1998KY26. JAXA expects the aircraft to take 11 years to reach that asteroid. Hayabusa2’s new mission aims to explore possible ways of preventing major setbacks meteorites from hitting the Earth.
The United States is the only other nation to have successfully collected an asteroid sample. NASA announced last month that its Osiris-Rex spacecraft had completed sampling work on the asteroid Bennu. NASA said it was pleased that the spacecraft collected more sample materials than expected.
My name is Bryan Lynn.
The Associated Press and Reuters reported this story. Bryan Lynn amended the reports for VOA Learning English. The editor was Ashley Thompson.
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Words in this story
asteroid – n. any thousands of tiny planets orbiting the sun
mission – n. a flight by plane or spaceship to perform a specific task
charcoal – n. hard black material made by firing wood with a little air
winner – n. an object (such as a meteorite) that collides with another body
bedrock – n. the hard rock that lies below the surface of the earth
allotment – n. an enclosed space or space that is usually part of something larger and is often used to hold something special
meteorite – n. a piece of rock or metal that has fallen to the ground from outer space: a meteor that reaches the Earth’s surface without burning up completely