The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry announced Tuesday that the Osaka World Expo will unveil the largest meteorite sample from Mars to the public.
It measures 29 centimeters wide by 16 centimeters high, and weighs 13 kilograms.
Preserved at the National Institute for Polar Research, in the city of Tachikawa (Tokyo), this rock was discovered by a Japanese Antarctic research expedition in 2000. It contains minerals that have proven the presence of water once on this planet.
It will be exhibited in the “Plant area”, one of the three large spaces of the Japanese pavilion, and it will be possible to touch it.
This space will also explain the functioning of micro-organisms which break down waste and transform it into energy. Guided tours will allow you to observe the production of energy from biogas using these microorganisms and food waste collected on the Expo site.
-Sand samples from the asteroids Itokawa and Ryûgû, collected by the Hayabusa probe of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), will be visible in the “Factory Area”.
The Osaka World Expo will run for six months starting April 13, 2025.
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
