12:20 PM - 1:00 PM
[EV21-01] Find water from return samples
Sample return refers to the collection of material from celestial bodies other than Earth and bringing it back to our planet for analysis. The first such mission was NASA's Apollo program, which successful returned lunar samples in 1969. In Japan, JAXA carried out the Hayabusa mission in 2010 and Hayabusa2 mission in 2020, retrieving samples from the asteroids Itokawa and Ryugu, respectively. Other examples include lunar samples returned by the former Soviet Luna missions and China’s Chang’e 5 and 6, asteroid Bennu samples from NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission, and comet Wild 2 samples from NASA’s Stardust mission.
The analysis of these returned samples provides critical insights in the field of materials science—insights that cannot be obtained through observations, theoretical studies, or space exploration alone. In recent years, a variety of organic compounds have been identified in samples from the C-type or related asteroids Ryugu and Bennu, which are considered among the most primitive bodies in the solar system. These discoveries include findings that had not been revealed through the study of meteorites alone.
My research has involved the analysis of meteorites and these invaluable returned samples primarily using X-ray computed tomography (XCT), a non-destructive imaging technique. This approach has enabled the discovery of aqueous fluid inclusions—liquid water that once existed within small solar system bodies—trapped inside mineral grains. In this talk, I will provide an overview of water in the solar system, discuss the significance of discovering early solar system water, and present prospects for future research.
The analysis of these returned samples provides critical insights in the field of materials science—insights that cannot be obtained through observations, theoretical studies, or space exploration alone. In recent years, a variety of organic compounds have been identified in samples from the C-type or related asteroids Ryugu and Bennu, which are considered among the most primitive bodies in the solar system. These discoveries include findings that had not been revealed through the study of meteorites alone.
My research has involved the analysis of meteorites and these invaluable returned samples primarily using X-ray computed tomography (XCT), a non-destructive imaging technique. This approach has enabled the discovery of aqueous fluid inclusions—liquid water that once existed within small solar system bodies—trapped inside mineral grains. In this talk, I will provide an overview of water in the solar system, discuss the significance of discovering early solar system water, and present prospects for future research.