...of asteroid. Discovered on 26 September, 1998 by the Lincoln Laboratory Near-Earth Asteroid Research Team at Socorro, New Mexico, 25143 Itokawa, or Itokawa for short, became the first asteroid from which samples were captured and brought to Earth for...
... Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched the Hayabusa probe, which successfully rendezvoused with the asteroid 25143 Itokawa and returned dust samples back to Earth in 2010. This was a first. Japan also sent a successful orbiter...