The Japanese space prob launched in 2003 to collect asteroid dust had returned to Earth successfully on Sunday.

JAXA had confirmed the successful return of the Hayabusa probe after a seven year mission. The probe landed successfulling a restricted military zone in the remote South Australian desert.

Scientists hope that Hayabusa, will show samples gathered in two landings of the Itokawa asteroid, along with other data that may yield clues to the origin of the universe.