Environmental assessment in the prelaunch phase of Hayabusa2 for safety declaration of returned samples from the asteroid (162173) Ryugu: background monitoring and risk management during development of the sampler system

Sakamoto, Kanako; Takano, Yoshinori; Sawada, Hirotaka; Okazaki, Ryuji; Noguchi, Takaaki; Uesugi, Masayuki; Yano, Hajime; Yada, Toru; Okazaki, Ryuji; Tachibana, Shogo

doi:10.1186/s40623-022-01628-z

Cited by 12 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…6 and 7). The presence of the alkylated homologs of uracil coupled with the careful contamination control and chain of custody of the Hayabusa2 sample [27][28][29] strongly suggests that they are not formed under the control of terrestrial biology but formed through a series of abiotic processes in extraterrestrial environments. Alkylated homologs of N-heterocyclic molecules produced by photochemical reactions of interstellar ice analogs have shorter alkylchains than that observed in the Ryugu samples and meteorites 11 , which strongly suggests that processes in asteroidal environments contributed to elongate alkylchains in those classes of molecules.…”

Section: Detection Of Other N-heterocyclesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Uracil in the carbonaceous asteroid (162173) Ryugu

Oba

Koga²,

Takano³

et al. 2023

Nat Commun

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The pristine sample from the near-Earth carbonaceous asteroid (162173) Ryugu collected by the Hayabusa2 spacecraft enabled us to analyze the pristine extraterrestrial material without uncontrolled exposure to the Earth’s atmosphere and biosphere. The initial analysis team for the soluble organic matter reported the detection of wide variety of organic molecules including racemic amino acids in the Ryugu samples. Here we report the detection of uracil, one of the four nucleobases in ribonucleic acid, in aqueous extracts from Ryugu samples. In addition, nicotinic acid (niacin, a B3 vitamer), its derivatives, and imidazoles were detected in search for nitrogen heterocyclic molecules. The observed difference in the concentration of uracil between A0106 and C0107 may be related to the possible differences in the degree of alteration induced by energetic particles such as ultraviolet photons and cosmic rays. The present study strongly suggests that such molecules of prebiotic interest commonly formed in carbonaceous asteroids including Ryugu and were delivered to the early Earth.

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Section: Detection Of Other N-heterocyclesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Uracil in the carbonaceous asteroid (162173) Ryugu

Oba

Koga²,

Takano³

et al. 2023

Nat Commun

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“…In this paper, the “curation team” is responsible for the sample handling and storage within the ASRG facility. Based on the protocols for environmental assessment in Hayabusa2 (Sakamoto et al., 2022), the level of contamination in the clean room is monitored by regular examination with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) for organics, ion chromatography/mass spectrometry (IC/MS) for cations and anions, and inductively coupled plasma‐mass spectrometry (ICP‐MS) for metals. The environmental assessments are very useful in that we can apply them to the MMX mission.…”

Section: Curation Sampling and Remote‐sensing Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Curation protocol of Phobos sample returned by Martian Moons eXploration

Fukai,

Usui,

Fujiya

et al. 2024

Meteorit & Planetary Scien

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Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission will launch a spacecraft in 2024 to return samples from Phobos in 2029. Curatorial work for the returned Phobos samples is critical for the sample allocation without degrading the sample integrity and subsequent sample analysis that will provide new constraints on the origin of Phobos and the evolution of the circum‐Mars environment. The Sample Analysis Working Team of the MMX is designing the sample curation protocol. The curation protocol consists of three phases: (1) quick analysis (extraction and mass spectrometry for gases), (2) pre‐basic characterization (bulk‐scale observation), and (3) basic characterization (grain‐by‐grain observation and allocation of the sample aliquots). Nondestructive analyses within the clean chamber (e.g., visible and near‐infrared spectral imaging) and outside the chamber (e.g., gas mass spectrometry) are incorporated into the curation flow in coordination with the MMX mission instrument teams for ground‐truthing the remote‐sensing data sets. The MMX curation/sample analysis flow enables the seamless integration between the sample and remote‐sensing data sets to maximize the scientific value of the collected Phobos samples.

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“…2), and both particles were black in hue like surface boulders and pebbles on Ryugu (Sugita et al, 2019) or carbon-phenolic ablator of the reentry capsule (Yamada and Yoshihara, 2022). They looked different from soil collected at the capsule landing site with authorization from the Australian Government and other potential contaminants archived during the sampler system development (Takano et al, 2020;Sakamoto et al, 2022). We named these two grains 'Q particles' (Q001 and Q002) because they are likely to be those collected at Ryugu but questionable.…”

Section: Cleaning Of the Sample Containermentioning

confidence: 99%

Ryugu particles found outside the Hayabusa2 sample container

et al. 2022

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The Hayabusa2 spacecraft explored C-type near-Earth asteroid (162173) Ryugu and returned asteroidal materials, collected during two touchdown operations, to the Earth as the first sample from carbonaceous-type asteroid. The sample container, in which ~5 g of Ryugu sample was enclosed, was safely opened in the clean chamber system with no severe exposure to the terrestrial atmosphere. In the course of preparation operation of the sample container, two dark-colored millimeter-to sub-millimeter-sized particles were found outside the sealing part of the sample container. Because they look similar to the Ryugu particles inside the sample container, the particles were named as Q particles (Q from questionable). In this study, we investigated Q particles (Q001 and Q002) mineralogically and petrographically to compare them with potential contaminants (the ablator material of the reentry capsule and fine sand particles at the capsule landing site), Ryugu sample, and CI chondrites. The Q particles show close resemblance to Ryugu sample and CI chondrites, but have no evidence of terrestrial weathering that CI chondrites experienced. We therefore conclude that the Q particles are originated from Ryugu and were expelled from the sample catcher (sample storage canister) in space prior to the enclosure operation of the sample catcher in the sample container. The most likely scenario is that the Q particles escaped from the sample catcher during the retrieval of the sample collection reflector, which was the necessary operation for the sample container closing.

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Environmental assessment in the prelaunch phase of Hayabusa2 for safety declaration of returned samples from the asteroid (162173) Ryugu: background monitoring and risk management during development of the sampler system

Cited by 12 publications

References 53 publications

Uracil in the carbonaceous asteroid (162173) Ryugu

Uracil in the carbonaceous asteroid (162173) Ryugu

Curation protocol of Phobos sample returned by Martian Moons eXploration

Ryugu particles found outside the Hayabusa2 sample container

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