A computer-generated image of Japanese space probe Hayabusa on asteroid Itokawa. (AFP)

Tokyo, Nov. 26 (Reuters): A Japanese space probe made history today when it landed on the surface of an asteroid and then collected rock samples that could give clues to the origin of the solar system.

The probe, called Hayabusa ? Japanese for “falcon” ? succeeded in the delicate task which scientists have likened to landing a jumbo jet in a moving Grand Canyon. It was its second and final attempt.

After analysing data transmitted from the unmanned probe, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said Hayabusa had touched down on the asteroid, nearly 300 million km from Earth.

The probe then shot a 5-gramme metal ball towards the surface at a speed of 1,080 kmph , collecting into a capsule the debris unleashed as a result of the impact, JAXA officials said.

“I am delighted to hear that it has collected the samples. It is the world’s first such feat and it will contribute greatly to mankind’s exploration of space,” science and technology minister Iwao Matsuda said in a statement.

The US and the former Soviet Union have brought back samples from the Moon in the past, but it is the first time that surface material from an asteroid has been collected.

JAXA scientists at its main space control centre in western Tokyo smiled and let out cheers after confirming the successful landing.

Hayabusa has already sent back detailed images of the asteroid. In a photograph published on JAXA website http://www.isas.jaxa.jp/e/snews/2005/1110_hayabusa.shtml, the probe’s shadow can be made out on its surface.

Japan’s space programme has had a shaky record and has recently been overshadowed by China’s success in carrying out manned space flights ? something Japan has never attempted.

After a voyage of two-and-a-half years, Hayabusa on Sunday had touched down on the surface of the 548 metre-long potato-shaped asteroid, named Itokawa, marking the first landing by a Japanese spacecraft on an extraterrestrial body.