Japan Just Revealed The First Image of Ryugu's Asteroid Dust to The World

 

Black sandy dust found during a capsule delivered to Earth by a Japanese guided missile is from the distant asteroid Ryugu, scientists confirmed after opening it on Monday.

The discovery comes per week after the Hayabusa-2 probe dropped off its capsule, which entered the atmosphere in an exceeding streak of sunshine before landing within the desert then being transported to Japan.

The Japanese space agency (JAXA) released an image of a little deposit of sooty material inside the metal box - a primary glimpse at the results of an unprecedented six-year mission for the uncrewed probe.

(JAXA)

The dust was found within the capsule's outer shell, agency officials said, with more substantial samples expected to be found once they open the inner container, a fragile task.

"JAXA has confirmed that samples derived from the asteroid Ryugu are inside the sample container," the agency said.

"We were ready to confirm black, sand-like particles which are believed to be derived from the asteroid Ryugu."

The sample container inside the re-entry capsule was opened on December 14, and that we confirmed black grains thought to be from Ryugu were inside. this can be outside the most chambers, and sure particles attached to the sample catcher entrance. (English release available tomorrow) https://t.co/NAw1R1cjvy pic.twitter.com/5BfXxfH29h

— HAYABUSA2@JAXA (@haya2e_jaxa) December 14, 2020

Hayabusa-2 traveled about 300 million kilometers (200 million miles) from Earth to gather the samples, which scientists hope could help shed light on the origin of life and also the formation of the universe.

The probe collected both surface dust and pristine material from below the surface that was excited by firing an "impactor" into the asteroid.

"We will continue our work to open the sample-catcher within the sample container. Extraction of the sample and analysis of it'll be applied," JAXA said.

Hayabusa2 probe as it landed in Australia. (JAXA/Twitter)

Half of Hayabusa-2's samples are going to be shared between JAXA, US space agency NASA and other international organizations, and also the rest kept for future study as advances are made in analytic technology.

But work isn't over for the probe, which is able to now begin an extended mission targeting two new asteroids.