TOKYO: Japanese space agency officials were delighted on Tuesday (Dec 8) by the return of a small capsule containing asteroid soil samples obtained by their Hayabusa2 spacecraft and they are anxiously waiting to look inside after preparations are complete.

The Hayabusa2 dropped the capsule from space and it landed in the Australian Outback over the weekend. It arrived in Japan earlier Tuesday and it will soon be studied for insight into the origin of the solar system and life on Earth.