In-situ investigation of asteroid (162173) Ryugu by the Mobile Asteroid Surface Scout (MASCOT) Camera (MASCam)

Authors:

R. Jaumann^1,2,*, N. Schmitz¹, T.-M. Ho³, S.E. Schröder¹, K.A. Otto¹, K. Stephan¹, S. Elgner¹, K. Krohn¹, F. Preusker¹, F. Scholten¹, J. Biele⁴, S. Ulamec⁴, C. Krause⁴, S. Sugita⁵, K.-D. Matz¹, T. Roatsch¹, R. Parekh^1,2, S. Mottola¹, M. Grott¹, P. Michel⁶, F. Trauthan¹, A. Koncz¹, H. Michaelis¹, C. Lange³, J.T. Grundmann³, M. Maibaum⁴, K. Sasaki³, F. Wolff⁷, J. Reill⁸, A. Moussi-Soffys⁹, L. Lorda⁹, W. Neumann¹, J.-B. Vincent¹, R. Wagner¹, J.-P., Bibring¹⁰, S. Kameda¹¹, H. Yano¹², S. Watanabe^13,12, M. Yoshikawa¹², Y. Tsuda¹², T. Okada¹², T. Yoshimitsu¹², Y. Mimasu¹², T. Saiki¹², H. Yabuta¹⁴, H. Rauer^1,2, R. Honda¹⁵, T. Morota¹⁶, Y. Yokota¹², T. Kouyama¹⁷

Affiliations:

¹ German Aerospace Center (DLR), Inst. of Planetary Research, Berlin, Germany

² Freie Univ. Berlin, Inst. of Geosciences, Berlin, Germany

³ DLR, Inst. of Space Systems, Bremen, Germany

⁴ DLR-MUSC, Linder Höhe, Cologne, Germany

⁵ Dept. of Earth and Planetary Science, School of Science, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan

⁶ Univ. Côte d'Azur, Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur, CNRS, Laboratoire Lagrange, Nice, France

⁷ DLR, Inst. of System Dynamics and Control, Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany

⁸ DLR, Inst. of Robotics and Mechatronics, Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany

⁹ CNES, 18 Avenue E. Belin, Toulouse 31401, France

¹⁰ Univ. de Paris Sud-Orsay, IAS, Orsay, France

¹¹ Dept. of Physics, Rikkyo University, 3-34-1 Nishi-Ikebukuro, Toshima, Tokyo 171-8501, Japan

¹² Inst. of Space and Astronautical Science, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Sagamihara, Japan

¹³ Dept. of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Nagoya Univ. Furo-cho Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, Japan

¹⁴ Dept. of Earth and Planetary Systems Science, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan

¹⁵ Kochi University, Department of Information Science, Akebono, Kochi, Japan.

¹⁶ University of Tokyo, Department of Earth and Planetary Science, Hongo, Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan.

¹⁷ National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Aomi, Koto, Tokyo, Japan.

*Correspondence to: Ralf Jaumann

Science 23 Aug 2019:
Vol. 365, Issue 6455, pp. 817-820
DOI: 10.1126/science.aaw8627

Abstract:

On October 3^rd, 2018, the MASCOT lander investigated the surface of (162173) Ryugu in situ. The onboard MASCam camera obtained images during the descent and on the surface, with a spatial resolution down to 0.2mm/pixel. The surface is covered by two types of rocks, while deposits of fine-grained material, of millimeter to centimeter size, are absent. Rocks appear either bright, with smooth faces and sharp edges, or dark, with a cauliflower-like crumbly surface. Close-up images of a rock of the latter type reveal a dark matrix with small, bright inclusions, either spectrally red or blue. Their presence implies that the rock did not experience extensive aqueous alteration. The inclusions show strong similarities with those in carbonaceous chondrites, suggesting that Ryugu is linked to these meteorites.

Images used in the Article