Tag: asteroid Ryugu

Technology

If 900-metre Asteroid Ryugu hits Earth, will we survive the awful catastrophe?

In 2014, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) sent a spacecraft called Hayabusa2 on a unique mission. The spacecraft was tasked with landing on an asteroid named Ryugu and to collect rock samples from it. The spacecraft successfully completed its mission in 2020 when it returned with rock samples. In addition to collecting samples, the spacecraft also landed rovers, hit it with projectiles and spent months observing it closely. And now, after spending time analyzing the sample, scientists have been able to answer a terrifying question. What would happen if the asteroid Ryugu were to strike the Earth?The reason scientists are asking this question and are trying to find answers is because of two factors. Most of the time, when estimations around the impact of an asteroid strike ...
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Asteroid Ryugu discovery suggests where ingredients for life on Earth came from

Two organic compounds essential for living organisms have been found in samples retrieved from the asteroid Ryugu, buttressing the notion that some ingredients crucial for the advent of life arrived on Earth aboard rocks from space billions of years ago.Scientists said on Tuesday they detected uracil and niacin in rocks obtained by the Japanese Space Agency's Hayabusa2 spacecraft from two sites on Ryugu in 2019. Uracil is one of the chemical building blocks for RNA, a molecule carrying directions for building and operating living organisms. Niacin, also called Vitamin B3 or nicotinic acid, is vital for their metabolism. The Ryugu samples, which looked like dark-gray rubble, were transported 155 million miles (250 million km) back to Earth and returned to our planet's surface in a seal...
Technology

Shocking space fact! Asteroid Ryugu samples reveal it is OLDER than the solar system

Ever since the samples from the asteroid Ryugu were delivered by the Hayabusa2 spacecraft of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) in 2020, the excitement among the astronomers has been at an all time high. And that is mainly because it is believed that this pristine piece of celestial dirt can finally answer questions around the origin of life, how the solar system was formed and more. But now, the earliest studies are coming out after two years of research into the samples and the revelations are even more shocking. It turns out that Ryugu could be older than the solar system itself.The study was published in the Science journal and it concluded, “The organic matter in Ryugu probably consists of primordial materials that formed during (or before) the early stages of the Sola...
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Scientists find TRUTH behind asteroid Ryugu; Know what it says about the solar system

The analysis of samples from the asteroid Ryugu has revealed the constituents that the early solar system could have been made up of. The solar system is essentially the reason why we exist today. So, it is not really surprising that humans have always been fascinated by the origin of the solar system. But despite a curiosity of hundreds of years, our knowledge around it is vastly limited. And that was part of the reason why the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched the Hayabusa2 spacecraft to bring samples from an ancient asteroid called Ryugu. The asteroid was thought to be a carbon-rich C-type asteroid and of the same age as the early solar system which made its analysis very important. The scientists working with the Japanese Space agency also developed a non-destruc...
Technology

Asteroid Ryugu surprises researchers

In December 2020, a small landing capsule brought rock particles from the asteroid Ryugu to Earth material from the beginnings of our solar system. In December 2020, a small landing capsule brought rock particles from the asteroid Ryugu to Earth material from the beginnings of our solar system. The Japanese space probe Hayabusa 2 collected the samples. Geoscientists have now discovered areas with a massive accumulation of rare earth and unexpected structures. Frank Brenker and his team are world leaders in a method that makes it possible to analyse the chemical composition of material in a three-dimensional and entirely non-destructive way and without complicated sample preparation -- yet with a resolution of under 100 n...
Technology

Asteroids brought water on Earth: Study

In a quest to shed light on the origins of life and the formation of the universe, researchers are scrutinising material brought back to earth in 2020 from the asteroid Ryugu. Water may have been brought to Earth by asteroids from the outer edges of the solar system, scientists said after analysing rare samples collected on a six-year Japanese space mission. In a quest to shed light on the origins of life and the formation of the universe, researchers are scrutinising material brought back to earth in 2020 from the asteroid Ryugu. The 5.4 grams (0.2 ounces) of rocks and dust were gathered by a Japanese space probe, called Hayabusa-2, that landed on the celestial body and fired an "impactor" into its surface. Studies o...