Nov 30 7:58 AM US/Eastern
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By KOZO MIZOGUCHI
Associated Press Writer
TOKYO
Japan's space agency said Wednesday a spacecraft that landed on an asteroid last week had successfully collected surface samples in an unprecedented mission to bring the extraterrestrial material to Earth.
The space agency, JAXA, previously said the Hayabusa probe appeared to have touched down for a few seconds Saturday on the asteroid, which is about 180 million miles from Earth. It was the probe's second successful landing on the asteroid.
After touching down on the Itokawa asteroid, the probe fired two metal projectiles into its surface, collected the dust that was kicked up and lifted off, JAXA said on its Web site.
The probe landed on the asteroid's surface for 30 minutes on Nov. 20, but it failed to collect material, the agency has said.
"We could prove an epoch-making planetary exploration through autonomous navigation and guidance, and stand foremost in the world in deep space exploration technology," JAXA official Junichiro Kawaguchi said.
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