Nasa lands Bennu asteroid samples back on Earth

The sample, collected as part of Nasa’s Osiris-Rex mission, is the US space agency’s first mission to collect a sample from an asteroid and the first by any agency since 2020.

The capsule released by the Osiris-Rex spacecraft after landing to Earth (Nasa TV via AP/PA)

Nasa has successfully landed the largest asteroid sample ever collected back on Earth.

A capsule containing about 250g of rocks and dust collected from asteroid Bennu touched down in the Utah desert near Salt Lake City at 3.52pm Irish time on Sunday, three minutes ahead of schedule.