SUGITA , Seiji

Context. The JAXA asteroid sample return mission Hayabusa2 reached its target (162173) Ryugu in June 2018 and released the European (CNES-DLR) lander MASCOT in October 2018. MASCOT successfully landed on the surface, and the Hayabusa2 Optical Navigation Camera system has been able to image parts of the MASCOT trajectory.Aims. This work builds...

Context. Landing on the surface of small bodies is particularly challenging, as the physical properties of the surface material are not well known and the mechanical response of this material in a low-gravity environment is not well understood.Aims. In order to improve our understanding of low-speed impact processes on granular media and their...

Context. The JAXA asteroid sample return mission Hayabusa2 reached its target (162173) Ryugu in June 2018 and released the European (CNES-DLR) lander MASCOT in October 2018. MASCOT successfully landed on the surface, and the Hayabusa2 Optical Navigation Camera system has been able to image parts of the MASCOT trajectory.Aims. This work builds...

International audience

International audience

International audience

Understanding the geological modification processes on asteroids is fundamental for elucidating their surface evolution. Images of small asteroids from spacecrafts show a depletion in smaller craters. Seismic shaking was considered to be responsible for erasing such small craters and the main driver modifying the geology of asteroids. However,...

Recent asteroid missions have revealed that many sub-kilometer asteroids are rubble piles. Large parts of their surfaces are covered with boulders larger than tens of centimeters. An evaluation of the abundance and size distribution of boulders provides clues to understand surface processes on boulder-covered asteroids. Here we report a new...

International audience