The capsule that the Hayabusa2 unmanned space probe brought back to Earth on Dec. 6 contained at least 5.4 grams of black particles and sand grains, among other materials, collected on the asteroid Ryugu, according to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.
JAXA had originally set a target of 0.1 gram of soil samples to be collected for analysis. This means the samples contained in the capsule this time exceeded the original target by more than 50 times.
The space agency weighed the amount of soil grains by comparing the weight of the container before and after the launch of Hayabusa2. The weight does not include sand grains found outside the container.
After JAXA examines the shapes and materials in the sample, universities and research institutes nationwide are set to analyze the sample starting around June next year.
"The sample from the asteroid Itokawa brought back by the first Hayabusa spacecraft in 2010 was estimated to be only a few dozen micrograms. Compared with that, this is an overwhelmingly large amount. We can learn more about asteroids," said Shogo Tachibana, professor of astrochemistry at the University of Tokyo, who will be in charge of the analysis of the sample.
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