Comet Enthusiast

Japan's Hayabusa space probe has become the first spacecraft to bring material from an asteroid back to Earth, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) announced. Hayabusa's capsule was retrieved earlier this year, howver it wasn't clear whether the dust it contained came from the asteroid it landed on in 2005 until an analysis by JAXA has shown that the dust's composition is extra-terrestrial, even containing a mineral not found on the Earth's surface. Additional analysis may reveal what materials existed when the solar system formed, and provide insights into how best to mitigate asteroid impacts based on new knowledge of their composition.

"The science that we will obtain from these particles over the next few years will be invaluable," said Paul Abell of the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, who is a member of the Hayabusa Joint Science Team.