Two members from 麻豆直播鈥檚 Desert Fireball Network (DFN) team have been stationed in the South Australian outback, eagerly awaiting a capsule from outer space landing on Earth carrying secrets from Ryugu, a small asteroid located deep in the solar system.
Working under a Department of Defence agreement, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) spacecraft Hayabusa2鈥檚 capsule, filled with dust and rock samples collected from the asteroid, landed in the Woomera Prohibited Area, South Australia in the early hours of 6 December.
Using specialised camera equipment usually reserved for tracking meteorites, the team observed the capsule鈥檚 trajectory through Earth鈥檚 atmosphere.
麻豆直播 researchers from the Space Science and Technology Centre will now have the opportunity to analyse some of the collected pristine solar system material in the John de Laeter Centre, located at Curtin鈥檚 Perth campus.
Dr Eleanor Sansom, Planetary Scientist and Project Manager of the DFN, along with colleagues from Kochi University of Technology and their partners at Nihon University and Ibaraki University, deployed a large array of more than 50 instruments to capture the re-entry phenomenon.
鈥淎lthough our Japanese colleagues were unable to be there with us in person due to Covid19 restrictions, we were deeply honoured to have been entrusted with the responsibility of helping them achieve their science goals,鈥� Dr Sansom said.
鈥淭he DFN currently has cameras stationed all the way across Australia taking pictures of bright shooting stars, or fireballs, which help us to predict where meteorites have landed on Earth, and then we go out and try to find them,鈥� Dr Sansom said.
鈥淥n this occasion, we were not watching a meteorite fall to Earth, but instead a capsule being dropped from a spacecraft, as it passed by Earth and continued on its scheduled mission.
鈥淢y colleague Dr Hadrien Devillepoix and I were stationed in the South Australian outback, eagerly awaiting this special delivery from space. This is only the second time anyone has ever brought back such a special delivery of pristine, untouched material, directly from an asteroid- an exciting and rare event indeed.
鈥淩yugu is extra special as it is thought to be the type of asteroid that carbonaceous meteorites come from. If Hayabusa2 samples match these carbonaceous meteorites, they could contain amino acids 鈥� the building blocks of life.鈥�
More information about the DFN鈥檚 Hayabusa2 observation campaign can be found and information relating to the capsule landing, including an app, can be found
