The capsule brought back by the Hayabusa2 space probe contained more than 5.4 grams of soil samples from a distant asteroid, exceeding the original target of 0.1 gram, Japan's space agency said Friday.
The soil samples from the Ryugu asteroid were in three chambers of a storage container within the capsule that was returned to Earth earlier this month, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said, adding more material was found outside the chambers.
JAXA calculated the amount by comparing the weight of the container before and after Hayabusa2 was launched into space in December 2014 bound for Ryugu, located over 300 million kilometers from Earth.
