Japanese scientists from JAXA transport the Hayabusa space capsule (inside a box) to a clean room inside the Instrumentation Building at the Woomera Test Range, South Australia.

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Spotted by researchers in a helicopter, on Monday, is the asteroid capsule. The unit was carried by the Hayabusa spacecraft after it parachuted back to land within the Woomera military zone in Australia.

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Taken with a fish-eye lens, this image shows the capsule carried by the Hayabusa spacecraft burning up over South Australia on re-entry, leaving the heat-resistant pod to parachute back to land within the Woomera military zone.

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An artist impression of the Japanese asteroid probe, released from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), showing the space probe “Hayabusa” (Falcon) and an asteroid, called Itokawa in the space. The Hayabusa – if successful – will be the first spacecraft to bring home raw material from an asteroid, touched down safely on Earth about midnight on Sunday.

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The capsule carried by the Hayabusa spacecraft burns up over South Australia on re-entry, leaving the heat-resistant pod to parachute back to Earth within the Woomera military zone.

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