DLR & CNES - Mobile Asteroid Surface Scout (MASCOT) patch.
August 26, 2019
The researchers are trying to solve the biggest question in the history of humanity: how was our solar system formed?
Image above: Two types of rocks and blocks are distinguishable on Ryugu: dark and rough, with friable surface, or clear and smooth. (Photo: MASCOT/DLR/CNES).
The asteroid Ryugu has less and less secrets: new photos taken by the small French-German robot Mascot, the size of a shoebox, will help scientists understand the formation of our solar system.
Mascot (Mobile Asteroid Surface Scout) traveled on the back of the Japanese probe Hayabusa2 before landing on October 3, 2018 on the asteroid Ryugu, 900 meters wide, somewhere in space, between Mars and Earth.
Mascot (Mobile Asteroid Surface Scout)
After a fall of about ten minutes, Mascot, weighing about ten kilos, bounced on the very rough ground of the asteroid, because of the lack of gravity, before stabilizing.
Product of a "violent process"
In addition to taking measurements, Mascot took a series of photos during the 17 hours of his mission. Since then, these clichés are analyzed by scientists. Two types of rocks and blocks are distinguishable: dark and rough, with a friable surface, or clear and smooth.
"This shows that Ryugu is the product of a violent process," says Professor Ralf Jaumann, of the German Aeronautics and Astronautics Center (DLR), the lead author of a study presented Thursday in the magazine Science the conclusions of the analysis of clichés.
Animation: Asteroidlander MASCOT on board Hayabusa2
Ryugu could thus be the "son" of two parent bodies that collided, separated, and then assembled due to gravity, according to the researchers. Another theory is that the asteroid has itself been the victim of a collision with another body. This would have caused the creation of both types of rocks.
"The first material of the solar system"
Asteroid Ryugu. Image Credits: Hayabusa2/JAXA
Many rocks on Ryugu also contain small blue and red "inclusions" - materials that get stuck in the rock during its formation. These inclusions are similar to rare primitive meteorites found on Earth, carbonaceous chondrites.
"This material is extremely primitive, it is the first material in the solar system," Ralf Jaumann explained.
Investigated region on Ryugu
What help researchers to solve the biggest question in the history of humanity: how was formed our solar system? "We do not know how the planets were formed at the beginning. We must find the small bodies, these primitive bodies, primordial in the history of evolution, to understand the first 10 to 100 million years of the formation of planets, "said the researcher.
Mobile Asteroid Surface Scout (MASCOT) DLR portal:
https://www.dlr.de/dlr/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-10975/
Mobile Asteroid Surface Scout (MASCOT) CNES portal:
https://mascot.cnes.fr/en/MASCOT/GP_mascot.htm
Images, Videos, Text, Credits: DLR/CNES/JAXA/AFP/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.
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