MV Astronomy Club

SPECIAL DELIVERY by carol higgins

As the gift-giving season gets in full swing this month, we have lots of unique shopping options here in the Mohawk Valley. But what if you placed an order and had to wait six years for it to be delivered, and you weren’t sure what would be inside the package? That’s exactly the situation for a patient team of scientists in Japan. They are waiting for a special delivery scheduled to arrive on December 6, coming from far out in the solar system and delivered by a spacecraft. Meet Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft and its precious cargo – surface material from an asteroid!

Hayabusa2 is a Japanese Space Agency (JAXA) mission. It launched December 2, 2014, on a journey to an asteroid named 162173 Ryugu, one of over a million members of a region between Mars and Jupiter called the asteroid belt. Carrying a suite of remote sensing scientific instruments and cameras, the mission goals are ambitious. In addition to surveying and imaging the asteroid, analyzing its composition, spin rate, and gravity, the primary goal is to collect samples of the surface and return them to Earth!

When the spacecraft arrived at Ryugu in June 2018, it found an odd-shaped world that is described as a “spinning top.” At just over a half-mile across, the surface is a combination of small particles, pebbles, rocks, and boulders. Asteroids are small objects that orbit the Sun, leftover material from the time when our solar system was forming. There are three classes of asteroids. The C-type is carbon-rich and contains clay, minerals, and silicates. They account for about 75 percent of known asHayabusa2 and asteroid Ryugu Image credit: JAXA/Akihiro Ikeshita teroids. S-type asteroids are “stony” and contain silicates, while M-types are metallic and comprised mainly of end well for dinosaurs around 65 million nickel-iron. Ryugu is a C-type asteroid. years ago! But asteroids also tell a story

After months of evaluating the surface, about the composition, formation, and evoHuyabusa2 took its first samples in Febru- lution of our early solar system. Scientists Hanny’s Voorwerp. Image Credit: NASA, ESA, W. Keel, Galaxy Zoo Teamary 2019 and the second in July 2019. The believe the pristine Ryugu samples will procapture operations were no small feat and vide that geologic look back in time. required some tricky maneuvers to carefully But Hayabusa2 isn’t the only spacecraft steer the spacecraft. When its sample-arm that will return asteroid samples. NASA’s touched the surface, a projectile fired to OSIRIS-REx spacecraft arrived at asteroid expose material below the surface, causing Bennu in December 2018. In late October debris to float into a collection tube then into 2020, it touched the surface and collected a “catcher” which was eventually stowed in sample materials, then placed them in a rea return capsule. Hayabusa2 started its trip turn capsule. The spacecraft will soon beback to Earth in November 2019. gin its journey back to Earth to drop off the

Since then, JAXA’s mission controllers capsule for a September 24, 2023 landing in monitoring the spacecraft have occasionally Utah. adjusted course to ensure it will be on the Studying sample materials from othcorrect trajectory when it reaches Earth and er celestial objects is a planetary scientist’s releases the return capsule on December 6. dream come true. What will we learn from The capsule is about 16-inches across, with these two exciting special deliveries? a protective heat shield and a parachute to Wishing you clear skies and good health! • slow its descent during landing. An anxious JAXA team will be waiting in the Woomera Prohibited Area in South Australia to recov- Join MVAS from 7pm to 10pm on er the capsule and take its priceless payload December 12 for stargazing at to Japan for analysis. Many asteroids have an orbit that takes them close to our planet, and tracking them Barton-Brown Observatory 206 White St., Waterville is important for developing planetary de- See the MVAS Facebook page for details. fense strategies. As we know, things didn’t

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