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Small bodies looming large in planetary science

Japanese and US missions returning samples from the carbon-rich asteroids Ryugu and Bennu are the latest steps in probing our Solar System’s smallest bodies, near and far, for clues to our own origins and directions for our future exploration.

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Fig. 1

Bennu, NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona; Ryugu, JAXA, University of Tokyo, Kochi University, Rikkyo University, Nagoya University, Chiba Institute of Technology, Meiji University, University of Aizu, AIST

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Binzel, R.P. Small bodies looming large in planetary science. Nat Astron 3, 282–283 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-019-0747-6

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