Japan's space probe touches down on asteroid to collect samples

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Japan's space probe Hayabusa2 has touched down on an asteroid more than 300 million kilometers from Earth on a mission to seek clues about the origins of life, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) confirmed on Friday.

Hayabusa2 began its descent a day earlier to the asteroid, which the probe arrived above in June last year, from an altitude of 20,000 meters.

The decent was delayed by a few hours while the final approach to the asteroid's surface was confirmed, JAXA said.

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency associate professor Yuichi Tsuda briefs reporters on the successful landing of the Hayabusa2 space probe on the Ryugu asteroid. /VCG Photo

The probe is now scheduled to begin collecting rock samples from Ryugu's surface, according to JAXA's mission plans.

The initial touchdown on the asteroid was postponed in October last year, as JAXA found the surface of the asteroid with 900 meters in diameter, to be rockier than it first thought and needed more time to ensure the safe landing of the probe.

The rocky surface of Ryugu asteroid /VCG Photo

JAXA said on Friday Hayabusa2 fired a small projectile into the surface of Ryugu to collect particles scientists hope the spacecraft will bring back to Earth for analysis.

"We may have caused some worry due to the delay, but we carried out our plan flawlessly over the past four months to bring it to a successful landing," project manager Yuichi Tsuda told a news conference.

"It landed in the best circumstances among the scenarios we envisioned," he said.

A computer graphic handout image shows Hayabusa2 probe touches down on the asteroid. /Reuters Photo

The 600-kg Hayabusa2, which was launched from the Tanegashima Space Center in southwestern Japan in December 2014, has experienced no problems up until now, throughout its journey totaling 3.2 billion kilometers.

It is the second Japanese spacecraft to land on an asteroid after Hayabusa touched down on a near-Earth asteroid named Itokawa in 2005, which was the first to bring asteroid dust back to Earth, although not as much as hoped.

The agency said that in total, Hayabusa2 is scheduled to make three landings on the asteroid and collect rock samples and will stay close to Ryugu for one and a half years.

During this time, it will conduct a number of exploratory activities in an attempt to try to find clues about the solar system's evolution and possibly the beginning of life itself.

Hayabusa2's mission will be completed when it returns to the Earth in 2020 with the samples of rocks it has collected from Ryugu, which is thought to contain water and other materials that could support life.

(With input from Reuters and Xinhua News Agency)

(Cover: A computer graphic handout image shows Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Hayabusa2 probe arrives to asteroid Ryugu. /Reuters Photo)