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The Japanese space agency will “modify” the trajectory of a capsule about to land on Sunday in the outback of South Australia.
The agency says it will perform a minor orbit correction on Tuesday, although the capsule, containing samples of underground asteroids, remains on route to land at a site in the forbidden area of Woomera in northern South Australia.
He says the fix will slightly change the landing position to make the job easier for his recovery team.
The capsule traveled aboard the Hayabusa2 probe which first landed on the asteroid Ryugu, more than 300 million kilometers from Earth, in February last year.
The spacecraft will return to orbit after depositing the capsule on a joint recovery mission between the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, the Australian Space Agency and the Department of Defense.
Scientists believe the samples can provide clues to the origins of life.
Asteroids are thought to have formed at the dawn of the solar system and Ryugu may contain organic matter that may have contributed to life on Earth.
Once back in orbit, Hayabusa2 will begin a second 10-year mission to meet in July 2031 with a much smaller 1998 asteroid known as KY26.
The Woomera Prohibited Area is currently used as a defense test site.
Its connection with space exploration began in the 1950s and hosted the first satellite launch in Australia in 1967.
At its peak, it had the second highest number of rocket launches in the world after NASA facilities at Cape Canaveral in Florida.
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