Japanese Hayabusa2 mission to asteroid Ryugu. Credit: JAXA
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has confirmed that the gas collected from the sample holder in the reentry capsule of the asteroid explorer Hayabusa2 is a gas sample from the asteroid Ryugu.
The result of the mass spectrometry of the gas collected in the sample container, conducted at the QLF (Quick Look Facility) set up at Woomera Local Headquarters in Australia on December 7, 2020, suggested that the gas differed from Earth’s atmospheric composition. For additional confirmation, a similar analysis was conducted December 10-11 at the Extraterrestrial Sample Curation Center on the JAXA Sagamihara Campus. This has led to the conclusion that the gas in the sample container comes from asteroid Ryugu.
Sample container structure. Credit: JAXA
The reasons for making this decision are due to the following three points.
- Gas analysis at the Extraterrestrial Sample Curation Center and at the Woomera Local Headquarters in Australia gave the same result.
- The sample container is sealed with an aluminum metal seal and the condition of the container is as designed so that the containment of the Earth’s atmosphere was kept well below the allowable level during the mission.
- Since it was confirmed at the Sagamihara campus that gas of the same composition was generated even after removal of the container gas in Australia, it is assumed that the gas collected must come from the degassing from the sample.
This is the world’s first sample return of a gas state material from deep space.
The first analysis team will proceed to open the sample container and perform a detailed analysis of the molecular and isotopic composition of the collected gas.
Brought gas analysis equipment to Woomera’s local headquarters in Australia. Credit: JAXA