A drop of water on an asteroid? Japanese probe finds traces in asteroid dust – Observer

The story begins 8 years ago. In 2014, Japan sent the probe into space Hayabusu-2. Target? Study the asteroid Ryugu. The plan was implemented, samples were collected, and two years ago, the space probe returned to Earth’s orbit. At that moment, a capsule was released with the samples collected in Ryugu that have been analyzed and studied over the years.

Now, the latest research published in Science reveals a surprising fact: There was a drop of water in the 5.4 grams of rock and dust collected from the asteroid.

“This drop of water has great meaning.” Tomoki Nakamura, the chief scientist, made no secret of his delight at the discovery during the press conference. For the researcher from the University of Tokyo, this drop of water could change the way we look at the origin of life. Many scientists believe that water came from outer space, but We detected water on Ryugu, an asteroid close to Earth, for the first time.”

Nakamura explained that the drop was carbonated water containing salt and organic matter. This is a point in favor of those who defend the hypothesis that during collisions, Asteroids may have brought water to Earth, With salt and organic matter, the scientist who leads a team of 150 people of different nationalities added.

“We found evidence that this could be directly related, for example, to the origin of oceans or organic matter on land,” Nakamura concluded.

According to Nikkei Asia, the water drop was discovered in an iron sulfate crystal carving and is estimated to be 4.6 billion years old. Ryugu samples will continue to be studied.