Probe returns to Earth after asteroid visit

A FIERY burst of light over the Australian Outback late yesterday marked the return of a Japanese space probe that scientists hope carried samples from an asteroid that could offer insights into the creation and makeup of the solar system.

After travelling 6 billion kilometres in seven years, the Hayabusa explorer incinerated on re-entry after jettisoning a capsule expected to contain the first asteroid dust ever collected, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said.

The capsule parachuted to Earth within the Woomera Prohibited Area, a remote military zone 485km northwest of Adelaide. Scientists will retrieve the capsule in the daylight today, and it will then be sealed in an airtight vessel and taken to Japan for study.