Asteroid 98943 Torifune is one of the targets of the Hayabusa2 mission; while much smaller than the 900-meter-diameter asteroid Ryugu—which the spacecraft had previously visited—it bears a striking resemblance to it. It looks as though two small Ryugus had joined in a cosmic kiss or embrace, as Torifune consists of two lobes shaped like Ryugu—that is, with a diamond-like appearance. Furthermore, they do not appear to have a solid core but are instead composed of a conglomerate of rubble and dust.
The gravitational pull of these asteroids is extremely weak—surface gravity on Ryugu is about 80,000 times lower than Earth's—yet this microgravity, combined with electromagnetic Van der Waals forces between fine particles, holds the structure together. Most interestingly, the Hayabusa2 spacecraft returned a capsule containing samples collected from asteroid Ryugu.
Japanese scientists discovered an abundance of organic molecules on the asteroid, including the building blocks of DNA. Additionally, they found elements that could only have formed in the presence of liquid water over a period of at least several million years. Since Ryugu is clearly too small to harbor liquid water, researchers suspect the asteroid is composed of debris from a much larger ancient object—one that possessed stable liquid water for millions of years and existed until roughly a billion years ago, when it was likely destroyed by an impact.
While the discovery of organic molecules and the basic building blocks of DNA is a 100% verified fact, the dating estimates are far more speculative. Future research may clarify the nature of this ancient object and when it was destroyed. It might have been a protoplanet or a moon similar to Enceladus—Saturn's moon, which harbors a water ocean beneath an icy crust.
Dozens of such cosmic objects likely existed in the early solar system; most were probably swallowed by forming planets, while others may have been destroyed. The possibility exists that it was an ancient, Mars-sized planet destroyed long ago. While that would be a fascinating speculation, it is currently largely ruled out by applying Occam's razor: the simplest explanation is that it was either a giant asteroid or an Enceladus-sized protoplanet (about 500 km in diameter). This conclusion stems simply from the fact that such objects were likely far more abundant in the solar system's past than Mars-sized planets.
Torifune appears to be a twin of Ryugu, suggesting a similar origin; perhaps both are merely accumulations of debris from an object destroyed long ago. Unfortunately, the spacecraft will not collect samples from this asteroid—it has only performed a close flyby—because the Japanese mission is directed toward a far more intriguing target: a possible dark comet currently designated as asteroid 1998 KY26.
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