The capsule from the Hayabusa2 spacecraft will be delivered to Japan as early as Tuesday. If samples of stone or other objects are retrieved from the capsule, the analysis will be carried out at universities and research institutions across the nation.
In particular, the focus of attention is on whether the samples contain organic matter, which could reveal information about the history of the solar system over 4.6 billion years.
Carbon-based matter exists in C-type asteroids such as Ryugu, and this type of matter is prone to structural changes when, for example, it is exposed to heat from sunlight or it reacts with other materials. Studying the results of these structural changes and reactions will allow researchers to trace the asteroid's history.
Many asteroids formed in the early stages of the solar system. "Knowing the history of Ryugu will lead us to understand more about the evolution of the solar system," said Hiroshima University Prof. Hikaru Yabuta, a specialist on space chemistry.
Organic matter contains the building blocks for life, such as the proteins that make up our bodies. Water, also contained in minerals from asteroids, is essential in fostering life. Some specialists believe that it was from an asteroid that these materials were brought to Earth.
Prof. Seiichiro Watanabe of Nagoya University, who will be in charge of the sample analysis, said: "We believe that the materials from Ryugu will be very close to the materials for life or oceans on Earth. [The analysis] will provide us clues as to how the source of life was transported here."
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