Subj : Daily APOD Report To : All From : Ben Ritchey Date : Wed Aug 22 2018 15:26:25 Astronomy Picture of the Day Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! [1] Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2018 August 22 [2] Asteroid Ryugu from Hayabusa2 Image Credit & Copyright: ISAS [3] , JAXA [4] , Explanation: This big space diamond has an estimated value [5] of over 80 billion dollars. It's only diamond in shape, though -- asteroid 162173 Ryugu [6] is thought to be composed of mostly nickel [7] and iron [8] . Asteroids like Ryugu [9] are interesting for several reasons, perhaps foremost because they are near the Earth and might, one day in the far future, pose an impact threat [10] . In the nearer term, Ryugu [11] is interesting because it may be possible to send future spacecraft there to mine it [12] , thus providing humanity with a new source [13] of valuable metals. Scientifically, Ryugu [14] is interesting because it carries information about how our Solar System formed billions of years ago, and why its orbit takes it so close [15] to Earth. Japan [16] 's robotic spacecraft Hayabusa2 [17] just arrived [18] at this one-kilometer wide asteroid in late June. The featured image [19] shows surface structures unknown before spacecraft Hayabusa2's arrival, including rock fields and craters. Within the next three months, Hayabusa2 is scheduled [20] to unleash several probes, some that will land on Ryugu and hop around, while Hayabusa2 itself will mine just a little bit of the asteroid [21] for return to Earth [22] . Tomorrow's picture: soul comet ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- < [23] | Archive [24] | Submissions [25] | Index [26] | Search [27] | Calendar [28] | RSS [29] | Education [30] | About APOD [31] | Discuss [32] | > [33] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff [34] (MTU [35] ) & Jerry Bonnell [36] (UMCP [37] ) NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply [38] . NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices [39] A service of: ASD [40] at NASA [41] / GSFC [42] & Michigan Tech. U. [43] ---------- Site notes: [1] archivepix.html [2] image/1808/Ryugu_Hayabusa2_1024.jpg [3] http://www.isas.jaxa.jp/ [4] http://global.jaxa.jp/about/index.html [5] http://www.asterank.com/ [6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/162173_Ryugu [7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickel [8] https://periodic.lanl.gov/26.shtml [9] https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/hayabusa-2/in-depth/ [10] https://sservi.nasa.gov/articles/neoshield-protecting-earth-impact-threats/ [11] http://www.planetary.org/blogs/jason-davis/new-global-views-ryugu-20km.html [12] http://theconversation.com/ mining-asteroids-could-unlock-untold-wealth-heres-how-to-get-started-95675 [13] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid_mining [14] http://www.planetary.org/multimedia/space-images/?keywords=hayabusa-2 [15] https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/ca/intro.html [16] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan [17] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayabusa2 [18] ap180625.html [19] http://www.hayabusa2.jaxa.jp/topics/20180725je/index_e.html [20] http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2018/ 0525-keep-up-with-hayabusa2.html [21] https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/small-bodies/asteroids/in-depth/ [22] ap090705.html [23] ap180821.html [24] archivepix.html [25] lib/apsubmit2015.html [26] lib/aptree.html [27] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search [28] calendar/allyears.html [29] /apod.rss [30] lib/edlinks.html [31] lib/about_apod.html [32] http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=180822 [33] ap180823.html [34] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html [35] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ [36] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html [37] http://www.astro.umd.edu/ [38] lib/about_apod.html#srapply [39] https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html [40] https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ [41] https://www.nasa.gov/ [42] https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ [43] http://www.mtu.edu/ --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A39 (Windows/32) * Origin: FIDONet - The Positronium Repository (1:393/68) .