Ryugu is a near-Earth object and a potentially hazardous asteroid of the Apollo group. It measures approximately 900 metres (3,000 ft) in diameter and is a dark object of the rare spectral type Cb, with qualities of both a C-type asteroid and a B-type asteroid.
In June 2018, the Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa2 arrived at the asteroid. After making measurements and taking samples, Hayabusa2 left Ryugu for Earth in November 2019 and returned the sample capsule to Earth on 5 December 2020.
The samples showed the presence of organic compounds, such as uracil (one of the four components in RNA) and vitamin B3.
I worked on that mission (the MASCOT lander :) - if only in a tiny ground role…
Hey, ALL jobs are important in one way or another. You should be happy your contribution - no matter how small - eventually culminated in this picture being taken 🤘
That’s supercool! Do you have some intresting fact/anecdote to share?
My colleagues took a (very) basic Japanese course to show some politeness towards the JAXA team :)
Ahaha thanks for the share!