Japan is preparing to launch its Hayabusa 2 mission, a follow-up to the original 2003 Hayabusa mission. The Hayabusa 2 mission will tell us even more about asteroids by studying the asteroid 1999 JU3.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) suffered a temporary setback this week when weather conditions forced the agency to delay the Hayabusa 2's launch from Monday, December 1 to Wednesday, December 3. The agency said that there may be more delays.
1999 JU3 is a C-type asteroid which scientists believe contains carbon, amino acids, and minerals rich in water, which are believed to be the building blocks of life. For years, scientists have studied the ways in which asteroids and meteors may have formed the building blocks for life on Earth. The Hayabusa 2 will study one asteroid in motion and look for answers about the ways asteroids affected life on Earth.
"Knowledge of those materials help us not only learn about the solar system in terms of its early stages of formation, but it also helps us (discover) how life on Earth may have evolved and where the oceans of Earth may have formed," said Paul Abell, a scientist working for NASA.
The first meteorite to spark discussion about meteors being the origin of life on Earth was the Murchison meteorite, which fell over Murchison, Australia in 1969. This was a type of meteor known as a carbonaceous chondrite.
Abell said that although studying meteors is helpful, studying asteroids may be even better, because there is less possibility for contamination since the objects are still in space.
"If you have meteorites that just fall to Earth, there's always the question of whether or not those type of organic molecules, some of the volatile materials and the water is due to contamination. How can you really, absolutely be sure it didn't come from Earth? We need something pristine and completely uncontaminated," Abell said.
The original Hayabusa mission already collected some particles from asteroids. However, the mission failed to set foot on the surface of an asteroid. The Hayabusa 2 mission will be an improvement, with a better ion engine, better gyroscopes, and other changes to avoid the technical difficulties that the original mission experienced.
Asteroid 1999 JU3 is traveling right now at an altitude of 3,000 feet above Earth. The Hayabusa 2 mission is set to end on December 2019.
