CNN reported on December 15, 2020, that Japan’s Hayabusa2 mission was successful in collecting a sample from an asteroid and returning it to Earth along with the first gas sample from deep space according to the announcement made by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The sample, contained in a capsule, was retrieved by a JAXA team in South Australia where the capsule landed.

The team conducted some preliminary tests of gas in the capsule before sending it to Japan where more tests would be conducted. The test of gas was the first step to confirm that the sample was collected from the asteroid named Ryugu, where a spacecraft visited, in 2019.

Researchers confirmed that the gas was originated from Ryugu based on their analysis that the composition of the gas was different from that of Earth, which was confirmed by two separate analyses conducted in South Australia on December 7 and at the Extraterrestrial Sample Curation Center on the JAXA Campus between December 10 and 11. The gas is considered to come from the material on and beneath the surface of the asteroid. The team also confirmed the presence of black sand grains from the asteroid inside the sample container.

JAXA plans to share tiny samples from Ryugu with six teams of scientists across the globe fur further research. Hayabusa2 was launched on December 3, 2014, arrived at Ryugu in June 2018. Hayabusa2 fired a copper bullet into Ryugu to create a 10-meter wide crater where it collected a sample on July 11, 2019, and departed Ryugu in November 2019, and started a return journey toward Earth. Hayabusa2, the spacecraft, continues on its path after flying by Earth in December 2020 to drop off the capsule and will visit more asteroids in the future.

Prior to the success of Hayabusa2’s mission, JAXA’s first Hayabusa mission was a failure since only micrograms of dust were retrieved from the asteroid called Itokawa returned to Earth in June 2010. Scientists believe that asteroids are linked to the process that made Earth habitable. The samples from asteroids will help scientists solve the questions regarding the origin of vital elements of life on earth.

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