The primary objectives of Hayabusa 2 are to explore a
C-type asteroid believed to be rich in water and organic matter, return samples to earth and delve into the origins and evolution of the solar system.
"This is a
C-type asteroid, and those are thought to be representative of the primordial materials from which our solar system was formed," said Wilson.
Recently, it was announced that the
C-type asteroid (24) Themis has been found to harbour water ice on its surface (H.
The uniformity indicates that the rock, classified as a
C-type asteroid because it contains carbonaceous material, is a pristine relic of the early solar system.
Dr Rita Schulz, the Rosetta project scientist, said: "It has an interesting surface and from the look of it, I would say it is more of a
C-type asteroid - but we can't really say anything yet.
The study - published in the journal Nature Astronomy - found that small fragments of material from
C-type asteroids are too fragile to survive entry into the Earth's atmosphere, explaining why meteorites of this type are rarely discovered here.
Named for the son of its discoverer, Jean-Jacques is an M-type asteroid, so called because it and other members of its class have a high metallic content (
C-type asteroids are carbonaceous, S-type silaceous).
About 1 percent of these ice-infused boulders, known as
C-type asteroids, were dropped into the outer regions of the asteroid belt.
C-type asteroids are especially useful in this respect as they show a fairly featureless spectrum of uniform reflectance vs.
Moreover,
c-type asteroids could be resources for future space exploration.