Images from the surface of asteroid Ryugu show rocks similar to carbonaceous chondrite meteorites

R Jaumann; N Schmitz; T-M Ho; S E Schröder; K A Otto; K Stephan; S Elgner; K Krohn; F Preusker; F Scholten; J Biele; S Ulamec; C Krause; S Sugita; K-D Matz; T Roatsch; R Parekh; S Mottola; M Grott; P Michel; F Trauthan; A Koncz; H Michaelis; C Lange; J T Grundmann; M Maibaum; K Sasaki; F Wolff; J Reill; A Moussi-Soffys; L Lorda; W Neumann; J-B Vincent; R Wagner; J-P Bibring; S Kameda; H Yano; S Watanabe; M Yoshikawa; Y Tsuda; T Okada; T Yoshimitsu; Y Mimasu; T Saiki; H Yabuta; H Rauer; R Honda; T Morota; Y Yokota; T Kouyama

doi:10.1126/science.aaw8627

Images from the surface of asteroid Ryugu show rocks similar to carbonaceous chondrite meteorites

Science. 2019 Aug 23;365(6455):817-820. doi: 10.1126/science.aaw8627.

Authors

R Jaumann^{1

2}, N Schmitz³, T-M Ho⁴, S E Schröder³, K A Otto³, K Stephan³, S Elgner³, K Krohn³, F Preusker³, F Scholten³, J Biele⁵, S Ulamec⁵, C Krause⁵, S Sugita⁶, K-D Matz³, T Roatsch³, R Parekh^{3

2}, S Mottola³, M Grott³, P Michel⁷, F Trauthan³, A Koncz³, H Michaelis³, C Lange⁴, J T Grundmann⁴, M Maibaum⁵, K Sasaki⁴, F Wolff⁸, J Reill⁹, A Moussi-Soffys¹⁰, L Lorda¹⁰, W Neumann³, J-B Vincent³, R Wagner³, J-P Bibring¹¹, S Kameda¹², H Yano¹³, S Watanabe^{13

14}, M Yoshikawa¹³, Y Tsuda¹³, T Okada¹³, T Yoshimitsu¹³, Y Mimasu¹³, T Saiki¹³, H Yabuta¹⁵, H Rauer^{3

2}, R Honda¹⁶, T Morota¹⁷, Y Yokota¹³, T Kouyama¹⁸

Affiliations

¹ German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Planetary Research, Berlin, Germany. ralf.jaumann@dlr.de.
² Free University of Berlin, Institute of Geosciences, Berlin, Germany.
³ German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Planetary Research, Berlin, Germany.
⁴ DLR, Institute of Space Systems, Bremen, Germany.
⁵ DLR, Microgravity User Support Center, Linder Höhe, Cologne, Germany.
⁶ Department of Earth and Planetary Science, School of Science, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan.
⁷ Université Côte d'Azur, Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Laboratoire Lagrange, Nice, France.
⁸ DLR, Institute of System Dynamics and Control, Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany.
⁹ DLR, Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics, Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany.
¹⁰ Centre National d'Études Spatiales, 18 Avenue E. Belin, Toulouse 31401, France.
¹¹ L'Université de Paris Sud-Orsay, Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale, Orsay, France.
¹² Department of Physics, Rikkyo University, 3-34-1 Nishi-Ikebukuro, Toshima, Tokyo 171-8501, Japan.
¹³ Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Sagamihara, Japan.
¹⁴ Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Nagoya University Furo-cho Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, Japan.
¹⁵ Department of Earth and Planetary Systems Science, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan.
¹⁶ Kochi University, Department of Information Science, Akebono, Kochi, Japan.
¹⁷ University of Tokyo, Department of Earth and Planetary Science, Hongo, Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan.
¹⁸ National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Aomi, Koto, Tokyo, Japan.

PMID: 31439797
DOI: 10.1126/science.aaw8627

Abstract

The near-Earth asteroid (162173) Ryugu is a 900-m-diameter dark object expected to contain primordial material from the solar nebula. The Mobile Asteroid Surface Scout (MASCOT) landed on Ryugu's surface on 3 October 2018. We present images from the MASCOT camera (MASCam) taken during the descent and while on the surface. The surface is covered by decimeter- to meter-sized rocks, with no deposits of fine-grained material. Rocks appear either bright, with smooth faces and sharp edges, or dark, with a cauliflower-like, crumbly surface. Close-up images of a rock of the latter type reveal a dark matrix with small, bright, spectrally different inclusions, implying that it did not experience extensive aqueous alteration. The inclusions appear similar to those in carbonaceous chondrite meteorites.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't