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The near-Earth asteroid 162173 Ryugu, the target of the Hayabusa2 sample-return mission, is thought to be a primitive carbonaceous object. We report reflectance spectra of Ryugu’s surface acquired with the Near-Infrared Spectrometer (NIRS3) on Hayabusa2, to provide direct measurements of the surface composition and geological context for the returned samples. A weak, narrow absorption feature centered at 2.72 micrometers was detected across the entire observed surface, indicating that hydroxyl (OH)–bearing minerals are ubiquitous there. The intensity of the OH feature and low albedo are similar to thermally and/or shock-metamorphosed carbonaceous chondrite meteorites. There are few variations in the OH-band position, which is consistent with Ryugu being a compositionally homogeneous rubble-pile object generated from impact fragments of an undifferentiated aqueously altered parent body.

Asteroids smaller than 10 km are thought to be rubble piles formed from the reaccumulation of fragments produced in the catastrophic disruption of parent bodies. Ground-based observations reveal that some of these asteroids are today binary systems, in which a smaller secondary orbits a larger primary asteroid. However, how these asteroids became binary systems remains unclear. Here, we report the analysis of boulders on the surface of the stony asteroid (65803) Didymos and its moonlet, Dimorphos, from data collected by the NASA DART mission. The size-frequency distribution of boulders larger than 5 m on Dimorphos and larger than 22.8 m on Didymos confirms that both asteroids are piles of fragments produced in the catastrophic disruption of their progenitors. Dimorphos boulders smaller than 5 m have size best-fit by a Weibull distribution, which we attribute to a multi-phase fragmentation process either occurring during coalescence or during surface evolution. The density per km 2 of Dimorphos boulders ≥1 m is 2.3x with respect to the one obtained for (101955) Bennu, while it is 3.0x with respect to (162173) Ryugu. Such values increase once Dimorphos boulders ≥5 m are compared with Bennu (3.5x), Ryugu (3.9x) and (25143) Itokawa (5.1x). This is of interest in the context of asteroid studies because it means that contrarily to the single bodies visited so far, binary systems might be affected by subsequential fragmentation processes that largely increase their block density per km 2 . Direct comparison between the surface distribution and shapes of the boulders on Didymos and Dimorphos suggest that the latter inherited its material from the former. This finding supports the hypothesis that some asteroid binary systems form through the spin up and mass shedding of a fraction of the primary asteroid. By comparing boulders’ surface distribution and shapes on the binary asteroid system, Didymos, authors show that both bodies are rubble piles produced in their progenitor catastrophic disruption and that the secondary, Dimorphos, likely inherited its material from the primary through spin up and mass shedding.

Spacecraft observations revealed that rocks on carbonaceous asteroids, which constitute the most numerous class by composition, can develop millimeter-to-meter-scale fractures due to thermal stresses. However, signatures of this process on the second-most populous group of asteroids, the S-complex, have been poorly constrained. Here, we report observations of boulders’ fractures on Dimorphos, which is the moonlet of the S-complex asteroid (65803) Didymos, the target of NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) planetary defense mission. We show that the size-frequency distribution and orientation of the mapped fractures are consistent with formation through thermal fatigue. The fractures’ preferential orientation supports that these have originated in situ on Dimorphos boulders and not on Didymos boulders later transferred to Dimorphos. Based on our model of the fracture propagation, we propose that thermal fatigue on rocks exposed on the surface of S-type asteroids can form shallow, horizontally propagating fractures in much shorter timescales (100 kyr) than in the direction normal to the boulder surface (order of Myrs). The presence of boulder fields affected by thermal fracturing on near-Earth asteroid surfaces may contribute to an enhancement in the ejected mass and momentum from kinetic impactors when deflecting asteroids. Here, authors study boulders’ fractures on S-type asteroid, Dimorphos, and show that their size-frequency distribution and orientation are consistent with formation through thermal fatigue. Such fractures seem to propagate horizontally much faster (~kyr) than normal to the boulder’s surface (~Myr).

The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) had an impact with Dimorphos (a satellite of the asteroid Didymos) on 26 September 2022 1 . Ground-based observations showed that the Didymos system brightened by a factor of 8.3 after the impact because of ejecta, returning to the pre-impact brightness 23.7 days afterwards 2 . Hubble Space Telescope observations made from 15 minutes after impact to 18.5 days after, with a spatial resolution of 2.1 kilometres per pixel, showed a complex evolution of the ejecta 3 , consistent with other asteroid impact events. The momentum enhancement factor, determined using the measured binary period change 4 , ranges between 2.2 and 4.9, depending on the assumptions about the mass and density of Dimorphos 5 . Here we report observations from the LUKE and LEIA instruments on the LICIACube cube satellite, which was deployed 15 days in advance of the impact of DART. Data were taken from 71 seconds before the impact until 320 seconds afterwards. The ejecta plume was a cone with an aperture angle of 140 ± 4 degrees. The inner region of the plume was blue, becoming redder with increasing distance from Dimorphos. The ejecta plume exhibited a complex and inhomogeneous structure, characterized by filaments, dust grains and single or clustered boulders. The ejecta velocities ranged from a few tens of metres per second to about 500 metres per second. Dimorphos ejecta plume properties were revealed by the observations from the LICIACube cube satellite, which was deployed 15  days in advance of the impact of DART.

The SIMBIO-SYS (Spectrometer and Imaging for MPO BepiColombo Integrated Observatory SYStem) is a complex instrument suite part of the scientific payload of the Mercury Planetary Orbiter for the BepiColombo mission, the last of the cornerstone missions of the European Space Agency (ESA) Horizon + science program. The SIMBIO-SYS instrument will provide all the science imaging capability of the BepiColombo MPO spacecraft. It consists of three channels: the STereo imaging Channel (STC), with a broad spectral band in the 400-950 nm range and medium spatial resolution (at best 58 m/px), that will provide Digital Terrain Model of the entire surface of the planet with an accuracy better than 80 m; the High Resolution Imaging Channel (HRIC), with broad spectral bands in the 400-900 nm range and high spatial resolution (at best 6 m/px), that will provide high-resolution images of about 20% of the surface, and the Visible and near-Infrared Hyperspectral Imaging channel (VIHI), with high spectral resolution (6 nm at finest) in the 400-2000 nm range and spatial resolution reaching 120 m/px, it will provide global coverage at 480 m/px with the spectral information, assuming the first orbit around Mercury with periherm at 480 km from the surface. SIMBIO-SYS will provide high-resolution images, the Digital Terrain Model of the entire surface, and the surface composition using a wide spectral range, as for instance detecting sulphides or material derived by sulphur and carbon oxidation, at resolutions and coverage higher than the MESSENGER mission with a full co-alignment of the three channels. All the data that will be acquired will allow to cover a wide range of scientific objectives, from the surface processes and cartography up to the internal structure, contributing to the libration experiment, and the surface-exosphere interaction. The global 3D and spectral mapping will allow to study the morphology and the composition of any surface feature. In this work, we describe the on-ground calibrations and the results obtained, providing an important overview of the instrument performances. The calibrations have been performed at channel and at system levels, utilizing specific setup in most of the cases realized for SIMBIO-SYS. In the case of the stereo camera (STC), it has been necessary to have a validation of the new stereo concept adopted, based on the push-frame. This work describes also the results of the Near-Earth Commissioning Phase performed few weeks after the Launch (20 October 2018). According to the calibration results and the first commissioning the three channels are working very well.

The near-Earth object (NEO) population includes both asteroids (NEAs) and comet nuclei (NECs) whose orbits have perihelion distances q <1.3 AU and which can approach or cross that of the Earth. A NEA is defined as a “potentially hazardous asteroid” (PHA) for Earth when its minimum orbit intersection distance (MOID) comes inside 0.05 AU and it has an absolute magnitude H <22 mag (i.e. mean diameter > 140 m). These are big enough to cause, in the case of impact with Earth, destructive effects on a regional scale. Smaller objects can still produce major damage on a local scale, while the largest NEOs could endanger the survival of living species. Therefore, several national and international observational efforts have been started (i) to detect undiscovered NEOs and especially PHAs, (ii) to determine and continuously monitor their orbital properties and hence their impact probability, and (iii) to investigate their physical nature. Further ongoing activities concern the analysis of possible techniques to mitigate the risk of a NEO impact, when an object is confirmed to be on an Earth colliding trajectory. Depending on the timeframe available before the collision, as well as on the object’s physical properties, various methods to deflect a NEO have been proposed and are currently under study from groups of experts on behalf of international organizations and space agencies. This paper will review our current understanding of the NEO population, the scientific aspects and the ongoing space- and ground-based activities to foresee close encounters and to mitigate the effects of possible impacts.

Analyses of meteorites and theoretical models indicate that some carbonaceous near-Earth asteroids may have been thermally altered due to radiative heating during close approaches to the Sun 1 – 3 . However, the lack of direct measurements on the subsurface doesn’t allow us to distinguish thermal alteration due to radiative heating from parent-body processes. In April 2019, the Hayabusa2 mission successfully completed an artificial impact experiment on the carbonaceous near-Earth asteroid (162173) Ryugu 4 , 5 , which provided an opportunity to investigate exposed subsurface material and test potential effects of radiative heating. Here we report observations of Ryugu’s subsurface material by the Near-Infrared Spectrometer (NIRS3) on the Hayabusa2 spacecraft. Reflectance spectra of excavated material exhibit a hydroxyl (OH) absorption feature that is slightly stronger and peak-shifted compared with that observed for the surface, indicating that space weathering and/or radiative heating have caused subtle spectral changes in the uppermost surface. The strength and shape of the OH feature suggests that the subsurface material experienced heating above 300 °C, similar to the surface. In contrast, thermophysical modelling indicates that radiative heating cannot increase the temperature above 200 °C at the estimated excavation depth of 1 m, even at the smallest heliocentric distance possible for Ryugu. This supports the hypothesis that primary thermal alteration occurred on Ryugu’s parent body. Hayabusa2 created an artificial crater on Ryugu to analyse the subsurficial material of the asteroid. Results show that the subsurface is more hydrated than the surface. It experienced alteration processes that can be traced back to Ryugu’s parent body.

Myc and transforming growth factor-β (TGFβ) signaling are mutually antagonistic, that is Myc suppresses the activation of TGFβ-induced genes, whereas TGFβ represses c-myc transcription. Here, we report a positive role for Myc in the TGFβ response, consisting in the induction of an epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and the activation of the EMT-associated gene Snail . Knockdown of either Myc or the TGFβ effectors SMAD3/4 in epithelial cells eliminated Snail induction by TGFβ. Both Myc and SMAD complexes targeted the Snail promoter in vivo , DNA binding occurring in a mutually independent manner. Myc was bound prior to TGFβ treatment, and was required for rapid Snail activation upon SMAD binding induced by TGFβ. On the other hand, c-myc downregulation by TGFβ was a slower event, occurring after Snail induction. The response of Snail to another cytokine, hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), also depended on Myc and SMAD4. Thus, contrary to their antagonistic effects on Cip1 and INK4b , Myc and SMADs cooperate in signal-dependent activation of Snail in epithelial cells. Although Myc also targeted the Snail promoter in serum-stimulated fibroblasts, it was dispensable for its activation in these conditions, further illustrating that the action of Myc in transcriptional regulation is context-dependent. Our findings suggest that Myc and TGFβ signaling may cooperate in promoting EMT and metastasis in carcinomas.

The transition from quiescence to proliferation is a key regulatory step that can be induced by serum stimulation in cultured fibroblasts. The transcription factor Myc is directly induced by serum mitogens and drives a secondary gene expression program that remains largely unknown. Using mRNA profiling, we identify close to 300 Myc-dependent serum response (MDSR) genes, which are induced by serum in a Myc-dependent manner in mouse fibroblasts. Mapping of genomic Myc-binding sites by ChIP-seq technology revealed that most MDSR genes were directly targeted by Myc, but represented a minor fraction (5.5%) of all Myc-bound promoters (which were 22.4% of all promoters). Other target loci were either induced by serum in a Myc-independent manner, were not significantly regulated or were negatively regulated. MDSR gene products were involved in a variety of processes, including nucleotide biosynthesis, ribosome biogenesis, DNA replication and RNA control. Of the 29 MDSR genes targeted by RNA interference, three showed a requirement for cell-cycle entry upon serum stimulation and 11 for long-term proliferation and/or survival. Hence, proper coordination of key regulatory and biosynthetic pathways following mitogenic stimulation relies upon the concerted regulation of multiple Myc-dependent genes.