Japan spacecraft Hayabusa2 drops capsule to Earth with Ryugu asteroid samples

The capsule is due to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere early Sunday before landing in a southern Australian desert

Scientists hope the specimens, which include the world’s first subsurface asteroid sample, could help explain the origin of life

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A computer-generated artist’s rendering of the separation of a capsule (centre left) containing samples collected from the asteroid Ryugu and scheduled for re-entry to Earth from the space probe Hayabusa2 (right). Photo: JAXA via Jiji Press/ AFP

Published: 3:30pm, 5 Dec 2020Updated: 8:52pm, 5 Dec 2020

A Japanese space probe dropped a capsule containing two samples from the 4.6-billion-year-old Ryugu asteroid above Earth on Saturday, as scientists await the arrival of materials that could help explain the origin of life.

The capsule, released from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft, is due to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere early Sunday before landing in a southern Australian desert, according to JAXA.

The specimens, which are estimated to weigh one gramme in total, include the world’s first subsurface asteroid sample. Scientists hope the primordial materials will help further research into the origin of life on Earth and the evolution of the solar system.

After landing, a JAXA recovery team will search a region within the Woomera Prohibited Area, of several hundred square kilometres, to collect the capsule.

Once located, the capsule will be taken to a “quick look facility” at an Australian defence force facility in Woomera to analyse gases that may have been emitted by the asteroid material, according to Masaki Fujimoto, deputy director general of JAXA’s Institute of Space and Astronautical Science.