Source: AFP
Scientists in Australia's vast Outback on Monday recovered a capsule of the Hyabusa mission that they hope contains the first piece of asteroid ever brought to Earth -- perhaps offering a glimpse into ancient space history.
The pod was ejected from a Japanese space probe as the host vessel burned up in a spectacular display over Australia following a seven-year odyssey across the solar system to the far-off Itokawa asteroid.
It lay in the desert dust overnight before scientists were given the go-ahead to retrieve it after Aboriginal elders said it had not landed in any indigenous sacred sites. (read more)
