Chemical assessment of the explosive chamber in the projector system of Hayabusa2 for asteroid sampling

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<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>We report a chemical assessment of the explosive chamber in the projector system used during the sampling operation of the Hayabusa2 project at the surface of the C-type asteroid Ryugu. Although the explosion process was designed as a closed system, volatile combustion gases and semivolatile organics were produced together with quenched carbonaceous product. The chemical compositions of the gases, organics, and inorganics were investigated in the screening analysis. A solid-phase microextraction technique and thermal desorption coupled with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis revealed that aliphatic (< C<jats:sub>20</jats:sub><jats:italic>n</jats:italic>-alkanes) and aromatic (< pyrene) hydrocarbons were produced in the closed chamber system. The aromatic ring compositions of the latter showed a semilogarithmic decrease: one ring > two rings > three rings > four rings, resulting in abiogenic molecular patterns. The most intense inorganic fingerprints were due to potassium (K<jats:sup>+</jats:sup>) and chloride (Cl<jats:sup>–</jats:sup>) ions derived from the initial KTB explosive and RK ignition charge. We discuss quality control and quality assurance issues applicable to future sample processes during the Hayabusa2 project.</jats:p>

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