Pebbles and sand on asteroid (162173) Ryugu: In situ observation and particles returned to Earth

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Tachibana, S, Sawada, H, Okazaki, R, Takano, Y, Sakamoto, K, Miura, YN, Okamoto, C, Yano, H, Yamanouchi, S, Michel, P et al (show 99 more authors) , Zhang, Y, Schwartz, S, Thuillet, F, Yurimoto, H, Nakamura, T, Noguchi, T, Yabuta, H, Naraoka, H, Tsuchiyama, A, Imae, N, Kurosawa, K, Nakamura, AM, Ogawa, K, Sugita, S, Morota, T, Honda, R, Kameda, S, Tatsumi, E, Cho, Y, Yoshioka, K, Yokota, Y, Hayakawa, M, Matsuoka, M, Sakatani, N, Yamada, M, Kouyama, T, Suzuki, H, Honda, C, Yoshimitsu, T, Kubota, T, Demura, H, Yada, T, Nishimura, M, Yogata, K, Nakato, A, Yoshitake, M, Suzuki, AI, Furuya, S, Hatakeda, K, Miyazaki, A, Kumagai, K, Okada, T, Abe, M, Usui, T, Ireland, TR, Fujimoto, M, Yamada, T, Arakawa, M, Connolly, HC Jr, Fujii, A, Hasegawa, S, Hirata, N, Hirose, C, Hosoda, S, Iijima, Y, Ikeda, H, Ishiguro, M, Ishihara, Y, Iwata, T, Kikuchi, S, Kitazato, K, Lauretta, DS, Libourel, G, Marty, B, Matsumoto, K, Michikami, T, Mimasu, Y, Miura, A, Mori, O, Nakamura-Messenger, K, Namiki, N, Nguyen, AN, Nittler, LR, Noda, H, Noguchi, R, Ogawa, N, Ono, G, Ozaki, M, Senshu, H, Shimada, T, Shimaki, Y, Shirai, K, Soldini, S ORCID: 0000-0003-3121-3845, Takahashi, T, Takei, Y, Takeuchi, H, Tsukizaki, R, Wada, K, Yamamoto, Y, Yoshikawa, K, Yumoto, K, Zolensky, ME, Nakazawa, S, Terui, F, Tanaka, S, Saiki, T, Yoshikawa, M, Watanabe, S and Tsuda, Y (2022) Pebbles and sand on asteroid (162173) Ryugu: In situ observation and particles returned to Earth SCIENCE, 375 (6584). 1011-+. ISSN 0036-8075, 1095-9203

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Abstract

The Hayabusa2 spacecraft investigated the C-type (carbonaceous) asteroid (162173) Ryugu. The mission performed two landing operations to collect samples of surface and subsurface material, the latter exposed by an artificial impact. We present images of the second touchdown site, finding that ejecta from the impact crater was present at the sample location. Surface pebbles at both landing sites show morphological variations ranging from rugged to smooth, similar to Ryugu’s boulders, and shapes from quasi-spherical to flattened. The samples were returned to Earth on 6 December 2020. We describe the morphology of >5 grams of returned pebbles and sand. Their diverse color, shape, and structure are consistent with the observed materials of Ryugu; we conclude that they are a representative sample of the asteroid.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	37 Earth Sciences, 51 Physical Sciences, 5109 Space Sciences, 3705 Geology
Divisions:	Faculty of Science & Engineering > School of Engineering
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	23 Jun 2022 07:16
Last Modified:	16 Jun 2026 11:19
DOI:	10.1126/science.abj8624
Related Websites:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3151626
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