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The Japanese space agency said signals showed that a capsule released by the country’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft landed in a remote area in South Australia as planned, to bring home long-awaited asteroid samples that could explain the origin of the lifetime.
Hayabusa2 successfully launched the small capsule on 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 briefly turned into a fireball as it reentered the atmosphere 75 miles above Earth. Approximately six miles above the ground, a parachute had to be opened to slow its fall and beacon signals had to be transmitted to indicate its location.
“It was great … It was a beautiful ball of fire, and I was very impressed,” said JAXA Hayabusa2 project manager Yuichi Tsuda as he celebrated the successful return of the capsule and the safe landing at the command center of the mission in Sagamihara, near Tokyo. . “I have waited for this day for six years.”
Beacon signals were detected, suggesting that the parachute was successfully opened and the capsule landed safely in a remote area of Woomera, Australia, JAXA official Akitaka Kishi said. He said JAXA staff were heading to the scene by helicopter.
The fireball could be seen even from the International Space Station. A Japanese astronaut, Soichi Noguchi, who is now on a six-month mission there, tweeted: “I just saw # hayabusa2 from #ISS! Unfortunately it’s not bright enough for a handheld camera, but I did enjoy looking at the capsule! “
Recovery of the pan-shaped capsule, about 15 inches in diameter, would begin after sunrise, he said.
Hayabusa2 left the asteroid Ryugu, about 180 million miles away, a year ago. After he released the capsule, he drifted away from Earth to capture images of the capsule descending toward the planet as he embarked on a new expedition to another asteroid.
The capsule descended from 136,700 miles away in space after it separated from Hayabusa2 in a challenging operation that required precision control.
JAXA officials said they expected to retrieve the capsule on Sunday night before a preliminary safety inspection at an Australian laboratory and bring it home early next week.
Trevor Ireland, a space rock expert at the Australian National University, who is in Woomera for the capsule’s arrival, said he expected the Ryugu samples to be similar to the meteorite that fell in Australia near Murchison in the state of Victoria. more than 50 years ago.
“The Murchison meteorite opened a window on the origin of organic compounds on Earth because these rocks were found to contain simple amino acids as well as plenty of 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 they still remain intact on the asteroid.”
Scientists say they believe the samples, especially those taken below the asteroid’s surface, contain valuable data that is unaffected by space radiation and other environmental factors. They are particularly interested in analyzing organic materials in samples.
JAXA hopes to find clues about how materials are distributed in the solar system and how they relate to life on Earth. Yoshikawa, the mission director, said that a tenth of a gram of powder would be enough to carry out all the planned investigations.
For Hayabusa2, it is not the end of the mission that began in 2014. It is now heading to a small asteroid called 1998KY26 on a 10-year one-way trip.
Asteroids, which orbit the sun but are much smaller than planets, are among the oldest objects in the solar system and can therefore help explain how Earth evolved.
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