Hayabusa capsule returns home

The Hayabusa capsule completed the final leg of its epic 6-billion kilometer, seven-year voyage early Friday when it arrived at the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture.

The tiny capsule, which scientists hope contains dust particles collected from the surface of the asteroid Itokawa, was flown to Tokyo's Haneda Airport on Thursday night on a chartered flight from Woomera, South Australia.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said it planned to examine its internal damage by X-ray before opening it.

Junichiro Kawaguchi, project manager of the JAXA's Hayabusa mission, said at the institute: "It was the first time I had seen (the capsule) in seven years. It was surprisingly clean. It looked as though it was new."

The Hayabusa space probe entered the Earth's atmosphere on Sunday night. The main craft burned up on re-entry, leaving the tiny 30-centimeter diameter capsule to parachute into the Australian Outback.