After examining rare samples obtained during a six-year Japanese space mission, scientists speculated that water may have been transported to Earth by asteroids from the extreme reaches of the solar system.
Researchers are closely examining the debris returned to earth in 2020 from the asteroid Ryugu in an effort to give insight into the beginnings of life and the creation of the cosmos.
Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa2, about the size of a refrigerator, was launched in December 2014 and landed 185 million miles distant on the diamond-shaped asteroid Ryugu, which translates to “dragon palace” in Japanese.
The capsule put on a spectacular display when it fell to Earth in 2020, racing across the sky like a brilliant fireball over the Australian outback.
The Japanese space probe that landed on the celestial planet and shot an “impactor” into its surface collected the 5.4 grammes (0.2 ounces) of pebbles and dust.
Studies on the material are starting to be published, and in June one team of researchers said that they had discovered organic material that suggested that some of the amino acids, the fundamental components of life on Earth, may have evolved in space.
According to a recent study that was published in the journal Nature Astronomy, the Ryugu samples may hold the key to solving the puzzle of how seas first arose on Earth billions of years ago.
The study, conducted by researchers from Japan and other nations, was released on Monday. It suggested that volatile and organic-rich C-type asteroids “may have been one of the primary suppliers of Earth’s water.”
It said that “there is still much disagreement over the delivery of volatiles (that is, organics and water) to the Earth.”
However, “in Ryugu particles, discovered in this work, the organic components observed [probably] constitute one key source of volatiles.”
Although it is “unlikely to be the sole source of volatiles transported to the early Earth,” the scientists suggested that this material “probably has an outside Solar System origin.”
The results made possible by the expedition were once again lauded by the researchers in the Nature Astronomy article.
According to the report, “Ryugu particles are without a doubt among the most pure Solar System materials accessible for laboratory study, and on-going research of these priceless samples will likely increase our knowledge of early Solar System activities.”
Another comparable to Ryugu near-Earth asteroid, Bennu, was sampled by the NASA OSIRIS-REx mission.
In 2023, the sample will come back to the planet.