Early results from analysis of dust on the Hayabusa space capsule, which landed in South Australia last year have revealed an indisputable link between the asteroids we see in space and meteorites that we collect on land.
“Previously there had been problems relating the nature of asteroids with meteorites because the surfaces of meteorites are destroyed as they come in through the atmosphere,” Earth Scientist Professor Trevor Ireland said.
“The samples taken from Itokawa are the previously unknown ’skin’ of an asteroid and their investigation has confirmed that meteorites that land on Earth are indeed related to the asteroids we see in space.”
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