This photograph was taken on the surface of asteroid Ryugu by the Hayabusa 2 mission. The rocky boulders resemble a rare type of meteorite — carbonaceous chondrites — that we find here on Earth after they fall from the sky.
The Hayabusa 2 mission’s return to Earth earlier this month completed a six-year round-trip mission to asteroid Ryugu. The craft launched in December 2014 aboard a Japanese H-2A rocket, and arrived near Ryugu in 2018 to begin several months of surveys before attempting the first landing.
The spacecraft dropped a fleet of landers and rovers to the explore the asteroid’s surface in late 2018, including a hopping robot developed by engineers in Germany and France.
Scientists are eager to analyse the specimens, which they expect may contain organic molecules. Researchers believe asteroids like Ryugu, or a larger body like the one from which Ryugu split off, could have seeded Earth with the ingredients necessary for life.
Hayabusa 2 departed Ryugu in November 2019 to begin the year-long trip back to Earth.
