Japan’s Hayabusa2 capsule lands with carbon-rich asteroid samples

Japan’s Hayabusa2 capsule lands with carbon-rich asteroid samples

4 years ago
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http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/12/japan-s-hayabusa2-capsule-lands-carbon-rich-asteroid-samples

A helicopter team followed a radio beacon to the Hayabusa2 return capsule hours after it landed in the Australian desert.

Japan has once again retrieved samples from a distant asteroid, which scientists will scrutinize for clues about the ancient delivery of water and organic molecules to Earth. The return capsule of the Hayabusa2 mission—about the size and shape of a wok—parachuted to a landing in the red desert sand of Woomera, Australia, in the early morning of 6 December, after a nearly 5.3-billion-kilometer trip to the asteroid Ryugu. A helicopter team homed in on a radio beacon and found the capsule intact.