Comments on: First look at Ryugu samples https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/first-look-at-ryugu-samples/ Tue, 29 Dec 2020 00:20:41 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 By: mkent https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/first-look-at-ryugu-samples/#comment-1100518 Tue, 29 Dec 2020 00:20:41 +0000 https://behindtheblack.com/?p=72006#comment-1100518 Lee: If you missed Psyche you may also have missed Lucy, which was announced at the same time. It is scheduled to launch in Nov 2021 and visit one main belt asteroid and seven Jupiter trojans. Seems like something you may be interested in.

]]> By: Lee Stevenson https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/first-look-at-ryugu-samples/#comment-1100147 Sat, 26 Dec 2020 00:25:39 +0000 https://behindtheblack.com/?p=72006#comment-1100147 Thank you Bob!!! A double whammy! A mission I have been longing for on my favourite launch vehicle!
I’m now off to Google the mission… Thanks for the tip off! ( I should really pay more attention I guess… Shame on me for missing this one!)

]]> By: Robert Zimmerman https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/first-look-at-ryugu-samples/#comment-1100132 Fri, 25 Dec 2020 21:50:39 +0000 https://behindtheblack.com/?p=72006#comment-1100132 In reply to Lee Stevenson.

Lee Stevenson: In case you are unaware, there is one mission, dubbed Psyche, that is heading to Psyche, a metal asteroid. It is scheduled to launch in ’22 on a Falcon Heavy.

]]> By: Lee Stevenson https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/first-look-at-ryugu-samples/#comment-1100130 Fri, 25 Dec 2020 21:35:50 +0000 https://behindtheblack.com/?p=72006#comment-1100130 I own a couple of meteorites, one iron and one carbonaceous chondrite (think rock), and they are dramatically different. All the missions so far have or are visiting rubble piles which are made up of mostly rock. I would be very interested in a visit to an iron asteroid. Certainly no guarantee of a sample return, but a good look at one would be useful from a planetary defence perspective. I would rather have a rubble pile heading towards me than a solid lump of metal!
@Steve Richter, as Bob says, the diversity of types of astroids give different insights into the stuff that makes up our solar system. The fact that there are solid metal ones means there was once at least one body that was big enough for the heavy elements to sink to its core. This also means it had a differentiated outer layer, before presumably getting smashed into bits at some point. ( Unless it was the Vogons!)
So every data point from different astroids gives a different window into the evolution of the solar system… And the fact that most asteroids live between Mars and Jupiter can not be a coincidence, but as far as I know there is no consensus so far as to why. ( I personally blame the Vogons… It’s a Hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy reference, essential reading for fans of comedy sci-fi!)

]]> By: Robert Zimmerman https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/first-look-at-ryugu-samples/#comment-1100118 Fri, 25 Dec 2020 18:22:52 +0000 https://behindtheblack.com/?p=72006#comment-1100118 In reply to Steve Richter.

Steve Richter: Think of the epochs and eons on Earth. These different layers have different ages, because they formed at different times. Once laid out in sequence they tell you much about the geological history of their location.

One asteroid is likely only going to give a single age, though it is not impossible for there to be rocks from many places with different ages each. Accumulate data from enough asteroids, correlate that with their orbital history, and you can begin to map out their sequence of formation, which will then begin to give you the sequence of formation of the solar system, in its early days.

]]> By: Steve Richter https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/first-look-at-ryugu-samples/#comment-1100116 Fri, 25 Dec 2020 17:56:02 +0000 https://behindtheblack.com/?p=72006#comment-1100116 why would the age of the Ryugu material be expected to be anything different for that of Earth? The Earth and Ryugu having both been formed from the same dust cloud that became our solar system?

But then the dust cloud that became the solar system would not have originated from a single super nova star. Would have to be multiple dust clouds, with the solar system finally forming when enough dust clouds had merged to provide a critical mass to collapse into the Sun? Sure seems speculative.

]]> By: James Street https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/first-look-at-ryugu-samples/#comment-1099968 Thu, 24 Dec 2020 17:48:56 +0000 https://behindtheblack.com/?p=72006#comment-1099968 Fascinating. Congratulations to Japan on a great technological and scientific achievement.

America’s first space station Skylab also landed in Australia in its uncontrolled 1979 crash. At the time one NASA official caused an international kerfuffle when he said that Australia was as good a place as any for it to crash because there were only kangaroos there.

The Aussies had a great sense of humor about it. One of them sold t-shirts with a target on them and said the U.S. government couldn’t do anything right so wearing a target would ensure your safety.

This archived NY Times article mentions the NASA comment:
https://www.nytimes.com/1979/07/13/archives/australians-search-for-souvenirs-of-skylab-visitors-to-cattle.html

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