Japan's space agency has attempted to detonate an explosive charge on an asteroid some 195 million miles from Earth, in hopes of creating a crater and collecting samples to shed light on the origin of the solar system.
An unmanned Japanese spacecraft orbiting an asteroid has made surprising discoveries that scientists say will improve understanding about the origin's of the Earth's water and help search for life in other solar systems.
A Japanese space probe has successfully fired a "bullet" into an asteroid as part of a mission to collect rock samples from the celestial body.
Japan's space agency will attempt to land a robotic unmanned landing craft on the surface of an asteroid 186.4 million-miles away from Earth next month.
A Japanese spacecraft has reached a diamond-shaped asteroid three years after setting off on its mission to learn about the origins of Earth.
