Sample Return Missions from Small Bodies – Hayabusa, Hayabusa2, and Beyond

Speaker: Dr. Shogo Tachibana
UTokyo Organization for Planetary and Space Science

4:30 P.M. Reception
5:00 P.M. Lecture
Hameetman Auditorium- California Institute of Technology

Registration is required for this lecture as seating is limited. Register here: https://forms.office.com/r/Ufje8mnizg

Abstract:

Small bodies such as asteroids and comets are believed to preserve records of the origin and early evolution of the Solar System. To demonstrate their significance, JAXA has conducted two asteroid sample return missions: the Hayabusa mission, which returned samples from the S-type asteroid Itokawa in 2010, and Hayabusa2, which delivered samples from the C-type asteroid Ryugu in 2020. In this talk, Shogo Tachibana will present the findings from these samples, compare them with those from the B-type asteroid Bennu brought back by NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission, and discuss the achievements of small-body sample return missions. He will also share expectations for future sample return missions.

Speaker's Biography:

Shogo Tachibana is a professor of cosmochemistry at the UTokyo Organization for Planetary and Space Science and Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of Tokyo, Japan. He is also a specially appointed professor at the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, JAXA, Japan. His research focuses on the origin and early evolution of the Solar System. Specifically, he investigates the kinetics of dust processes – such as evaporation, condensation, crystallization, and isotope exchange – in protoplanetary disks, as well as the synthesis and diversification of organic matter from the Sun's parent molecular cloud to small bodies, through laboratory experiments. He led the development of the Hayabusa2 sampler system and was responsible for the initial analysis of samples returned from the carbonaceous asteroid Ryugu.