The new JAXA sample return mission, which is slated for the 2030s, will
aim to bring back samples from a comet. This will help fuel studies about
the body orbiting the sun, hence, possibly expanding our understanding of
the body’s formation. A Future JAXA Sample Return Mission To Collect
Test Samples From A Comet In...
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#^The Next JAXA Sample Return Mission May Target A CometThe new
JAXA sample return mission, which is slated for the 2030s, will aim to bring back samples from a comet. This will help fuel studies about the body orbiting the sun, hence, possibly expanding our understanding of the body’s formation.
A Future JAXA Sample Return Mission To Collect Test Samples From A Comet
In 2005 and 2018, Japan successfully conducted its Hayabusa 1 and
Hayabusa 2 missions. They retrieved samples from near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs). The samples from these missions were put through thorough research, serving as a stepping stone into our understanding of NEAs and their development in our solar system.
Now, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is planning to embark on yet another sample return mission. However, this new mission will not be like the previous Hayabusa missions. It will not aim to collect samples from asteroids.
With this new mission,
JAXA has its eyes set on the icy rocks that float within our solar system, known as comets. The foundation of this newly found desire is a study by Naoya Sakatani, a researcher with JAXA’s Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) and the research of MIT scientist Shigeru Wakita.
While this coming sample return mission isn’t like its predecessors, it will help to answer questions that the study from its predecessors failed to answer. Currently, this mission is still in its conceptual phase, as the researchers are calling it a Next Generation Small-Body Sample Return (NGSR) mission.
This mission will target collecting samples from the subsurface layer of the comet that it selects. By doing this, the mission will ensure that the sample remains unaffected by cyclic solar heating and irradiation, hence keeping it fresh for the research work.
Why Is JAXA Working On A Comet Sample Return Mission?
This coming mission aims to understand the makeup of comets to see if they play a vital role in our solar system. In the paper touching on this
sample return mission, we read that “One of the main questions in planetary science is how original materials in the Solar System were generated in our galaxy.”
It was such questioning that fuelled previous asteroid sample return missions like the two JAXA Hayabusa missions. From these missions, the paper goes on to say that we learnt from the study of asteroidal materials that “presolar grains are significantly affected by metamorphism and alteration in the parent body.”
Now there seems to be an urgent need for research on comet samples to help widen our understanding of the formation of materials in space. For the success of this mission, JAXA might develop a Deep Space Orbital Transfer Vehicle (DSOTV) and a lander.
The lander will feature equipment that it will use to sample the comet’s interior materials. While this mission is still a concept, we will get to learn more about it over the coming years.
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The Next JAXA Sample Return Mission May Target A Comet appeared first on
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