Capsule delivers asteroid samples
Japanese spacecraft lands in Australia with material that may help explain the origin of life.
TOKYO — Japan’s space agency said a capsule released by the country’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft has landed in a remote area in southern Australia as planned, to bring home longawaited asteroid samples that could help explain the origin of life.
Hayabusa2 successfully released the small capsule Saturday and sent it toward Earth to deliver samples from a distant asteroid that could provide clues to the origin of the solar system and life on our planet, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said.
Early Sunday the capsule brief ly turned into a fireball as it reentered the atmosphere 75 miles above Earth. About six miles above ground, a parachute was to open to slow its fall and beacon signals were to be transmitted to indicate its location.
“It was great. ... It was a beautiful fireball, and I was so impressed,” said JAXA’s Hayabusa2 project manager, Yuichi Tsuda. “I’ve waited for this day for six years.”
Beacon signals were detected, suggesting the parachute successfully opened and the capsule landed safely in Woomera, Australia, said JAXA official Akitaka Kishi.
He said JAXA staff were en route to the site by helicopter.
The fireball could be seen even from the International Space Station. Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi, who is on a six-month mission there, tweeted: “Just spotted #hayabusa2 from #ISS! Unfortunately not bright enough for handheld camera, but enjoyed watching capsule!”
Hayabusa2 left the asteroid Ryugu, about 180 million miles away, a year ago. After it released the capsule, it moved away from Earth to capture images of the capsule descending toward the planet as it set off on a new expedition to a small asteroid called 1998KY26.
The capsule descended from 136,700 miles away after it was separated from Hayabusa2 in a challenging operation that required precision control.
JAXA officials said they hoped to retrieve the pan-shaped capsule, about 15 inches in diameter, by Sunday evening before a preliminary safety inspection at a Australian lab, and then bring it home in the next few days.
Australian National University space rock expert Trevor Ireland, who is in Woomera for the arrival of the capsule, said he expected the Ryugu samples to be similar to the meteorite that fell in Australia near Murchison in Victoria state more than 50 years ago.
“The Murchison meteorite opened a window on the origin of organics on Earth because these rocks were found to contain simple amino acids as well as abundant water,” Ireland said. “We will examine whether Ryugu is a potential source of organic matter and water on Earth when the solar system was forming, and whether these still remain intact on the asteroid.”