Dec 5, 2020 - Science

Japan space capsule carrying asteroid samples lands in Australia

Axios

JAXA's Hayabusa-2 probe's sample drop to earth after landing on and gathering material from an asteroid some 300 million kilometres from Earth is seen from Coober Pedy in South Australia on — JAXA's Hayabusa-2 probe's sample drop is seen from Coober Pedy in South Australia. Photo: Morgan Sette/Getty Images

A Japanese space capsule carrying asteroid samples landed in a remote area of Australia as planned Saturday, Japan's space agency, JAXA, said.

Why it matters via Axios' Miriam Kramer: It's only the second time pristine asteroid material has been brought back to Earth. Sample return missions like this one are incredibly valuable to scientists.

While the instruments onboard the spacecraft have gotten more advanced in recent years, they still pale in comparison to the tools available to researchers in labs on Earth.

Details: Hayabusa2, a robotic space probe, was launched by Japan’s space agency in 2014 to explore the Ryugu asteroid, about 180 million miles away.

After releasing the sample capsule, the Hayabusa2 spacecraft moved away from Earth to capture images of the capsule as it set off on a new mission to another distant asteroid, AP reported.
JAXA said it found the capsule via a helicopter search in the planned area in southern Australia later on Saturday.

What they're saying: “It was great ... It was a beautiful fireball, and I was so impressed,” said JAXA’s Hayabusa2 project manager Yuichi Tsuda, per AP.

“I’ve waited for this day for six years.”

What's next: China has a mission that is planning to return samples from the Moon later this month.

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission just grabbed a sample of an asteroid that should make it back to Earth in 2023.

Editor's note: An earlier version of this article misspelled "asteroid" in the headline and first paragraph.

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Japan space capsule carrying asteroid samples lands in Australia

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