Asteroid samples from the Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa2 to land near Woomera

The Hayabusa2 spacecraft took fragments from the Ryugu asteroid in February and July last year and will eject them as it flies early Sunday.

The capsule is expected to land near Woomera at 4:00 AEDT, with Hayabusa2 having traveled 5.25 billion kilometers since it launched.

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The fragments date back to the earliest stages of the solar system’s formation and should provide valuable insight into its origin and evolution once analyzed.

It will be the first ever underground asteroid sample to return to Earth and could help scientists understand how the oceans and life formed here.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said that scientists had many examples of meteorites – whose origins are thought to be the same as asteroids – that had fallen to Earth but the material that was left over after reentry through the atmosphere and their structure, together with the volatile substances, had been lost.

“They will also be contaminated with substances from the Earth,” says JAXA.

“On the other hand, the asteroid samples are returned to Earth in the same condition they were in space, with the ‘re-entry capsule’ protecting the sample through the atmosphere and landing.”

Anke Kaysser-Pyzalla, president of the German Aerospace Center DLR, who will assist with the analysis of the samples, said it was a historic moment for space exploration.

After releasing the landing capsule, the Hayabusa2 probe will continue its scientific journey, heading for another near-Earth asteroid it is expected to reach in 2031.

Woomera was declared a prohibited area in 1947 after the establishment of a long-range weapons test facility and has become a global focal point for space activity since 1957 when the first Skylark research rocket was launched by the British.

In the busiest period, Woomera had the second highest number of rocket launches in the world after NASA facilities in Cape Canaveral in Florida.

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