Posted: Jun 11, 2018 5:46 pm
by newolder
The population of asteroids is large and with few exceptions all had a similar origin in the Solar system's proto-disk. There's a predominantly ice/rock differential out there but I don't yet know the composition of Ryugu. There's a slim to vanishing chance that Ryugu is a single elemental block of gold, silver, platinum or other from an earlier neutron star merger or supernova blast, covered in dust. Who knows until the probe gets there and does its stuff? :think:

If we are running a sweep, I'll have a euro that any successful return will comprise dusty rock with a hint of tardigrades/aliens. :lol: