A Box of Treasure from Asteroid Ryugu

Asteroid 162173 Ryugu is a carbon-rich pile of rubble, with an orbit that passes between Earth and Mars and a shape that resembles a kilometer-wide spinning top. Scientists think that Ryugu contains pristine organic material from the dawn of the solar system – and that it could hold clues to the formation and evolution of life. That’s why the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) sent the Hayabusa2 spacecraft to study Ryugu and collect a sample, which it delivered to the Australian Outback in December 2020. Now, NASA scientist Heather Graham has received a box of Ryugu’s treasures from her JAXA colleagues, bringing a relic of the early solar system to a lab on Earth.

Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Dan Gallagher (KBRwyle): Producer
John Caldwell (AIMM): Videographer
Heather Graham (Catholic University of America): Scientist
LK Ward (KBRwyle): Narrator
William Steigerwald (NASA/GSFC): Science Writer
Yoshiko Sugahara: Support
Jason Dworkin (NASA/GSFC): Support
Daniel Glavin (NASA/GSFC): Support
Lonnie Shekhtman (ADNET): Support
Aaron E. Lepsch (ADNET): Technical Support

Universal Production Music: “The Ocean and the Moon” & “On Your Game” by Andy Blythe and Marten Joustra

This video can be freely shared and downloaded at https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14089. While the video in its entirety can be shared without permission, the music and some individual imagery may have been obtained through permission and may not be excised or remixed in other products. Specific details on such imagery may be found here: https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14089. For more information on NASA’s media guidelines, visit https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/guidelines.

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