Towards understanding the dynamical evolution of asteroid 25143 Itokawa: Constraints from sample analysis

Harold C. Connolly, Dante S. Lauretta, Kevin J. Walsh, Shogo Tachibana, William F. Bottke

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

8 Scopus citations

Abstract

The data from the analysis of samples returned by Hayabusa from asteroid 25143 Itokawa are used to constrain the preaccretion history, the geological activity that occurred after accretion, and the dynamical history of the asteroid from the main belt to near-Earth space. We synthesize existing data to pose hypotheses to be tested by dynamical modeling and the analyses of future samples returned by Hayabusa 2 and OSIRIS-REx. Specifically, we argue that the Yarkosky-O'Keefe-Radzievskii-Paddack (YORP) effect may be responsible for producing geologically high-energy environments on Itokawa and other asteroids that process regolith and essentially affect regolith gardening.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number12
JournalEarth, Planets and Space
Volume67
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 27 2015

Keywords

  • Asteroids
  • Chondrites
  • Cosmic-ray exposure ages
  • Hayabusa
  • Itokawa

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Geology
  • Space and Planetary Science

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