Engineering topics

M. Matsuoka

Publications and source records attributed to M. Matsuoka.

5 records

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Experimental reproduction of space weathering of C-type asteroids by He exposure: irradiation-energy and physical-property dependence

Visible and near-infrared observations of C-type asteroid 162173 Ryugu suggest that the surface color variation seems to have resulted from a surface-correlated process which changed the color from blue to red, but the mechanism for the change is not yet identified. Space weathering is one possible mechanism responsible for the color variation, but the spectral changes of C-type asteroids from space weathering are not yet fully understood. We have carried out He exposure experiments on hydrous carbonaceous chondrites in order to understand the irradiation-energy and the physical-property dependence of space weathering of C-type asteroids. He exposure to different porosities of the same meteorite samples results in different behavior of spectral changes. In addition, the meteorite samples with the same porosity and the same surface roughness show different spectral changes when the samples are exposed to He ions with different energies. Therefore, our experiments indicate that spectral changes by space weathering of C-type asteroids depend not only on the asteroid types but also on the physical properties of the regolith surface and the solar-wind He energy.

Michael E Zolensky↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Reflectance spectra measurement plan of captured samples from Ryugu: current status

Hayabusa2 spacecraft is equipped with Optical Navigation Camera (ONC) andNear-infrared Spectrometer (NIRS3), and has obtained reflectance spectra of the C-type near-Earth asteroid Ryugu over a wavelength range of 0.40–0.95 μm and 1.8–3.2 μm, respectively. It was revealed that Ryugu exhibits globally very low albedo (less than 0.02 at 0.55 and 2.0 μm), a slightly positive spectral slope, and an ubiquitous weak but sharp OH absorption band centered at 2.72 μm,showing a little regional heterogeneities. Thus, the surface material of Ryugu can be estimated as relatively similar to moderately heated carbonaceous chondrites, e.g., moderately dehydrated CI and CM, and enriched in carbon (Kitazato et al., 2019; Sugita et al., 2019; Tatsumi et al., 2020).Hayabusa2 successfully has performed twice touch down operations, and the captured sample will be brought back to the Earth in late 2020 (Morota et al., 2020; Tachibana et al., in preparation). To clarify Ryugu’s mineralogical and physicochemical properties and their varieties, effective for spectral characteristics obtained by ONC and NIRS3, several grains are planned to be distributed to several primary analysis groups. In this study, we report the current status of our spectral analysis plan in Hayabusa2 MINeralogy and PETrology of coarse grains (MIN-PET CG) team led by T. Nakamura, and the latest rehearsal analysis result using carbonaceous chondrite samples. MIN-PET CG rehearsal measurements have been performed to obtain detailed spectral properties of Ryugu grains with diverse spatial resolutions ranging from μm to mm scale or larger; using a few mm size polished CM sample with several microscopic imaging spectrometers covering various spatial range; with 200 μmor finer spatial resolution at Institut d’Astrophysique Spatiale, ~50 and 150 μm spatial resolution invisible and IR ranges at Brown University, and with 40 μm or larger spatial resolution at Tohoku University, and using mm-size CM and CI grains with a diffuse reflectance spectrometer with a few mm resolution at Tohoku University. Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy measurements undergo to use several mm-size CM or CI chondrite grains with Bruker VERTEX 70v, which covers ~0.38–15 μm in wavelength. To keep returned samples out of atmosphere avoiding any terrestrial contamination, wehave prepared an air shutoff cell to put samples and standard materials together kept in a N2 purged condition (Amano et al., 2020). Samples are Murchison CM chondrite showing typically ~5%reflectance with a strong OH absorption band at ~2.8 μm, and laboratory heated CI chondrite showing~3% reflectance, and a weak OH absorption band at ~2.7 μm. We will perform (1) fixed angle condition as laboratory standard setting at incident, emission, and phase angles of 30°, 0°, 30°, or 0°,30°, 30°, and (2) various angle conditions for photometric corrections. Future lab analyses of samples returned from Ryugu will provide direct and detailed information on the mineralogical and physicochemical properties of Ryugu, and relationship of spectral characteristics obtained by remote sensing and laboratory instruments.

M. Matsuoka↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Impact histories inferred from exogenic boulders on asteroids Ryugu and Bennu

Rubble-pile asteroids, such as (162173) Ryugu and (101955) Bennu, are formed as a result of catastrophic disruption of a parent body and re-accumulation of the fragments by self-gravity. Therefore, reaccumulated rubble piles could include mixtures of materials from both the parent body and its catastrophic impactor, as they did in the case of 2008 TC3 and the Almahata Sitta meteorites (Jenniskens et al. 2009). Indeed, six unusually bright, basaltic, meter-scale boulders were recently identified on Bennu’s dark surface (DellaGiustina et al. 2021), and their close spectral matches to the Howardite-Eucrite-Diogenite (HED) meteorites and Vesta family members indicate that they originated from asteroid (4) Vesta. In parallel, bright exogenic anhydrous-silicate–rich materials were found on Ryugu (Tatsumi et al. 2021). The bright boulders on Ryugu are consistent with ordinary chondrite meteorites, based on their albedo and weak or even absent absorption band at 2 µm. These exogenous materials on the surfaces of rubble-pile asteroids could be a key to constraining their specific impact conditions and collisional evolution. In this study, we report further study of the visible spectrophotometry and morphology of exogenic boulders on Ryugu and Bennu using two multi-band cameras: the telescopic Optical Navigation Camera (ONC-T) onboard the Hayabusa2 spacecraft, and MapCam onboard the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security–Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft, respectively. For Ryugu, we first detected objects with peak reflectance brighter by a factor of >1.5 than the surrounding area. Tatsumi et al. (2021) found two spectral groups among the bright boulders: S-type with an absorption near 1 µm and C/X-type with a flat spectrum. That study found 6 S-types and 15 C/X-types, and in this work we additionally find one S-type and ~70 C/X-types. We found that S-type bright boulders follow two parallel trends consistent with space weathering of ordinary chondrites. Fragments from projectiles suggest that Ryugu may not have formed directly from the original parent body, i.e., it is from a second or higher generation of collisional descendants (Sugimoto et al. in revision). For Bennu, we directly surveyed absorption near 1 µm, which is indicative of anhydrous silicates. We propose 77 objects of exogenic origin including 6 boulders previously reported by DellaGiustina et al. (2021). We find that proposed exogenic objects follow two mixing trends with respect to the average spectrum of Bennu (Tatsumi and Popescu et al. submitted). One trend can be explained by mixing with HED as discussed in DellaGiustina et al. (2021), and the other trend can be explained by mixing with another, olivine-rich composition. Near-infrared spectra also support the possibility of multiple compositions among exogenic objects on Bennu. Thus, similar to Ryugu, Bennu could represent a second or higher generation. Using high-resolution images, we found that more than half of the exogenic objects that we identified on Bennu have breccia-like or inclusion-like morphologies. We do not observe a correlation between morphology and spectral shape. Direct comparison of reflectance spectra of exogenic object spectra between Ryugu and Bennu suggests a compositional difference. Furthermore, the number density of exogenic objects > 0.5 m on Bennu is ~40 times that on Ryugu (Tatsumi and Popescu et al. submitted). Bennu exhibits much more contamination from exogenic materials than Ryugu, which likely reflects differences in impact conditions, such as impact velocity and impactor size.

E. Tatsumi↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Early History of Ryugu’s Parent Asteroid: Evidence from Return Sample

Near-Earth Cb-type asteroid (162173) Ryugu is a rubble pile asteroid made of fragments of the original parent asteroid [1-5]. It is possible that the fragments from various depths of the original asteroid are on the surface of the present-day Ryugu. Therefore, samples collected from Ryugu are expected to retain formation and evolution history of the interior of Ryugu’s parent asteroid. In this study, we will focus on understanding the early history of Ryugu’s parent asteroid. For this purpose, we need to understand: 1) when and where in the solar nebula Ryugu’s parent asteroid formed, 2) the original mineralogy and the abundance and composition of water-rich ice in the accreted materials, 3) how these materials chemically and mineralogically evolved, and 4) how the parent body was destroyed by a catastrophic collision.

T. Nakamura↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Analysis of "Stone" Samples from C-Type Asteroid Ryugu

As a part of activities of initial analysis, we analyzed eighteen Ryugu “stone” samples of 1 ~ 8mm in size: seven stones from the 1st touch down site and eleven from the 2nd touch down site. Ryugu stones were analyzed first using X-rays, UV, visible, near-infrared, mid-infrared, and muon probes for surface reflectance spectra, internal 3D structure and element distribution, crystal structures, and bulk composition of light elements such as C, N, and O. Measurements for magnetic, thermal, and physical properties using some stones were also performed. TOF-SIMS analysis of fluid inclusions as being continued. Small particles separated from some stones were analyzed by IR-CT. Based on 3D-CT images of individual stones, objects of interests were identified, separated by pFIB cutting, and exposed by polishing on the surface of epoxy disks. FE-EPMA/FE-SEM analysis was made on ~40 polished epoxy disks for chemical composition and textural observation. FIB sections and small (~15 μm in size) fragments were separated from polished surface and analyzed by TEM, STXM,XRF, and nano-CT.

T. Nakamura↗