Japanese probe returns with unique asteroid dust

The Hayabusa probe blazed a spectacular trail over Australia before slamming into the desert at around midnight local time, ending a journey to the near-Earth asteroid Itokawa that began in 2003.

A spokesman for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said the first image available indicated the capsule carrying the precious cargo had survived.

After sunrise, Australian defence officials flew local Aboriginal elders to the site by helicopter to verify that no sacred sites had been damaged. A defence spokesman said the indigenous leaders had cleared the way for the capsule to be recovered later on Monday.

Hayabusa, which means falcon in Japanese, landed on the irregularly shaped asteroid in 2005 and scientists think it managed to pick up a small sample of material. If successful, it would be the first time a spacecraft has brought such a sample back to Earth, other than from our own Moon.

Scientists hope it could unlock secrets of the solar system's formation and shed light on the risk to Earth from asteroid impacts; Kazinform cites China Daily.

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