by T. NAKAMURA et al Nakamura et al.
The Japanese Hayabusa spacecraft returned to Earth on 13 June 2010 carrying within it a precious but invisible cargo – 1534 particles of dust from the surface of the asteroid Itokawa, which the spacecraft visited in 2005. These particles, up to 180 micrometer in size, are the first material ever fetched from an asteroid and returned to Earth for laboratory analysis. In the 26 August 2011 Science, six Reports, plus related news and commentary, discuss the mineralogy, petrography, chemistry, and noble gas and oxygen-isotope compositions of the Itokawa particles, which provide insights into the evolution of the solar system.
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