The capsule recovered with the Hayabusa2 space probe contained more than 5.4 grams of ground samples from a distant asteroid, exceeding the original target of 0.1 grams, the Japanese space agency has said.
The ground samples from the Ryugu asteroid were in three rooms of storage inside the capsule that was returned to Earth earlier this month, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said Friday, adding that more material was found outside the rooms.
JAXA worked out the measurement by comparing the weight of the ship before and after the launch of Hayabusa2 into space in December 2014 tied for Ryugu, located more than 300 million km from Earth.
The space probe successfully launched the capsule over the Australian desert on 6 December.
The Ryugu probe arrived in June 2018 and landed on the asteroid twice last year, collecting the first subscription sample from an asteroid.
JAXA said Tuesday it opened a room for materials collected at the first asteroid rubble in February 2019 and found black grains inside.
The group plans to open another room in January at the earliest believed to include samples from the second rubble made in July 2019, when it tried to collect underground samples that were not exposed to solar winds.
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