Hayabusa capsule's spectacular re-entry

Japanese scientists have begun retrieving the Hayabusa capsule from the Australian Outback after its seven-year round trip to asteroid Itokawa.

Last night it re-entered the atmosphere and fell to Earth, breaking up in a brilliant fireball captured by this NASA video.

Researchers are hoping they'll find samples of Itokawa in the capsule when it's flown back to Japan, but there's a bit of uncertainty over whether there will be anything of use: the spacecraft's capture mechanism malfunctioned at the exact moment it was meant to pick up asteroid rock fragments. Fingers crossed. 

The Focus Summer issue, on sale July 1, features an in-depth look at return missions like Hayabusa.

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