Japan's Hayabusa spacecraft returned to Earth on June 13, 2010, carrying microscopic dust particles collected from asteroid Itokawa — the first asteroid sample ever returned to Earth, following a difficult seven-year round-trip mission plagued by technical problems that nearly caused its total loss.
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Japan's Hayabusa spacecraft returned to Earth on June 13, 2010, carrying microscopic dust particles collected from asteroid Itokawa — the first asteroid sample ever returned to Earth, following a difficult seven-year round-trip mission plagued by technical problems that nearly caused its total loss.
The year the first physical material sample collected from an asteroid was successfully returned to Earth.
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Permanent ID limitsregistry.com/limits/LR-FIRST-ASTEROID-SAMPLE-RETURN
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Limits Registry. LR-FIRST-ASTEROID-SAMPLE-RETURN. First asteroid sample returned to Earth. 2026.