Hypervelocity impacts on carbonaceous asteroids analogue materials

Description

Two on-going sample return space missions, Hayabusa2 and OSIRIS-REx are orbiting and characterising two near-Earth asteroids, (162173) Ryugu and (101955) Bennu respectively. Initial ground-based observations and preliminary mission data indicate that the composition of these small objects is similar to the CM or CI meteorites [1-4]. However, their mechanical properties appear to be different [5,6]. How does this weak materials respond to impacts? What type of regolith is produced during micrometeoroid bombardment? Will we expect to find exogenous materials embedded on the weak surfaces of Bennu and Ryugu?

Abstract

International audience

Additional details