Images from the surface of asteroid Ryugu show rocks similar to carbonaceous chondrite meteorites
2019
The near-Earth
asteroid(162173) Ryugu is a 900-m-diameter dark object expected to contain primordial material from the solar nebula. The Mobile
AsteroidSurface Scout (
MASCOT) landed on Ryugu’s surface on 3 October 2018. We present images from the
MASCOTcamera (MASCam) taken during the descent and while on the surface. The surface is covered by decimeter- to meter-sized rocks, with no deposits of fine-grained material. Rocks appear either bright, with smooth faces and sharp edges, or dark, with a cauliflower-like, crumbly surface.
Close-upimages of a rock of the latter type reveal a dark matrix with small, bright, spectrally different inclusions, implying that it did not experience extensive aqueous alteration. The inclusions appear similar to those in
carbonaceous chondritemeteorites.
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