NASA has witnessed many shocking discoveries, and this extraterrestrial mineral is another one. The Ryugu asteroid is a unique opportunity for science to go to the remote past of our Solar System. In 2020, the popular mission Hayabusa2 delivered tiny grains of rock from this carbonaceous asteroid to Earth. Thanks to these grains, scientists discovered an extraterrestrial mineral never found on our planet: So, let’s learn more about this discovery.
A look back to the Solar System origin
The two grains analyzed come from different parts of Ryugu: one comes from its surface and the other from the inside. So, both together work as archives preserving chemical reactions of the first stages of the Solar System.
These fragments are valuable because, on Earth, the oldest geochemical registers were removed due to an intense geological activity. However, carbonaceous asteroids like Ryugu haven’t suffered these extreme conditions. That’s why its materials are almost intact and pollution-free.
Small amount of samples
Each particle from Ryugu is extremely valuable. In total, Hayabusa2 brought only 5.4 grams of material. Out of this small amount, the team led by geoscientific Paul Northrup from the Stony Brook University only received 9.3 milligrams. Northtup explained the importance of taking so much care of the:
“The beauty of these combined techniques is that we can measure the chemistry of both the exterior and the interior of a sample without damaging it. This is important to preserve such rare and unique samples, especially when hundreds of researchers are competing for access to so little material.”
This is why the team used two advanced image techniques with X-Ray, which allowed them to study the mineral composition without destroying the samples.
Elements in Ryugu
The analysis revealed a great diversity of elements and compounds: selenium, manganese, iron, sulfur, phosphorus, silicon, and calcium. Among all of them, phosphorus was particularly interesting…
According to the statement from the Brookhaven National Laboratory, this element appeared in two different ways:
- The same mineral that forms human teeth and bones.
- A rare phosphide mineral not present on Earth, which led to the identification of an extraterrestrial mineral.
A new extraterrestrial mineral
In the first study, Northrup’s team couldn’t immediately confirm what mineral was, but the analysis after Ryugu’s material in 2024 allowed scientists to identify it as hydrated ammonium magnesium phosphorus (HAMP). This is a crystal that doesn’t exist on Earth and its structure seems like struvite’s, a terrestrial mineral with biological processes and is even found in some kidney stones.
This finding confirmed the existence of a truly extraterrestrial mineral with no direct counterpart in the geology of Earth.
Importance of this extraterrestrial mineral
Astrobiologist Matthew Pasek highlighted the relevance of this discovery in Nature Astronomy in 2024: “The finding of HAMP grains in the Ryugu samples continues to highlight the potential role of extraterrestrial matter in originating life on Earth.”
Basically, this means that minerals like the HAMMP could have influence on chemical reactions which led to the origin of biology itself.
So…
As you can see, the samples from the Ryugu asteroid is a historic advance: a never seen on Earth extraterrestrial mineral! This discovery might make you want to think about our place in the universe since every tiny grain from Ryugu proves that answers about our origins are also in space.
We never get tired of the many discoveries NASA and other space agencies make. It is so fascinating to think that we are witnessing these types of events that happen around our planet, isn’t it? So, we will see what’s next in the exciting world of the universe and its origins.