Japan’s space agency said its helicopter search team has retrieved a capsule, which is carrying asteroid samples that could explain the origin of life, that landed on a remote area in southern Australia as planned Sunday.
“The capsule collection work at the landing site was completed . . .,” the space agency said in a tweet about four hours after the capsule landed. “We practiced a lot for today … it ended safe.” Hayabusa2 had successfully released the small capsule on Saturday and sent it toward Earth to deliver samples from a distant asteroid that could provide clues to the origin of the solar system and life on our planet, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said.
