ryugu

Asteroid Ryugu samples, now on Earth, reveal inner workings of the space rock

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Pieces of rock from the asteroid Ryugu splashed down on Earth in 2020. Now, scientists studying the samples are revealing the asteroid’s true nature.  Ryugu is a near-Earth asteroid that Japan visited with its Hayabusa2 spacecraft. The craft launched in 2014, arrived at the space rock in 2018 and in December 2020 dropped off a … Read more

Bits of asteroid Ryugu are among ‘most primordial’ materials ever examined

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Tiny particles of rock gathered from the asteroid Ryugu are some of the most primordial bits of material ever examined on Earth and could give us a glimpse into the origins of the solar system. Asteroid 162173 Ryugu measures about 2,953 feet (900 meters) in diameter and orbits the sun between Earth and Mars, occasionally … Read more

Asteroid Ryugu: Space rock sample brought to Earth has a strange dark colour

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Last year, Japan’s Hayabusa 2 asteroid explorer returned samples from the asteroid Ryugu, and now the first analysis of the rock shows it has a primitive composition and a curiously dark colour Space 20 December 2021 By Alex Wilkins Artist’s impression of Hayabusa 2 near Ryugu Akihiro Ikeshita The asteroid Ryugu contains some of the … Read more

We Finally Have The First-Ever Analysis of Stardust Retrieved From The Ryugu Asteroid

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It’s been over a year since the Hayabusa2 probe delivered its precious cargo of dust from an alien space rock, and we’re finally getting a more detailed glimpse of what makes up asteroid Ryugu.   In two papers published today, international teams of scientists have revealed that, in accordance with analyses conducted by the probe … Read more