JAXA = Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency announced that it has confirmed a sand-granular sample that is thought to belong to the asteroid "Ryugu" in the capsule of the spacecraft "Hayabusa2" that has returned to Earth.
The capsule of the Hayabusa2 spacecraft, which returned to Australia on the 6th of this month, was brought to the JAXA Institute of Space and Astronautical Science in Sagamihara City, Kanagawa Prefecture, and work was underway to open it.
As a result, on the 14th, JAXA announced that a black sand granular sample believed to belong to the asteroid "Ryugu" was confirmed in the container inside the capsule.
Inside the capsule container, there is a device called a sample catcher in which the sample is finally stored, but it is believed that what was found did not enter this and was attached near the entrance.
JAXA will continue to open the sample catcher and take out the sample.
The image of the inside of the open container taken with a scope camera shows black sand-granular substances gathered on the right side.
"Hayabusa2" brought back a sample of the asteroid following the first machine, and the analysis team will take about 6 months to make detailed records and then perform a full-scale analysis.