Experts are examining fragments extracted from the asteroid

Such – Fragments of the asteroid that Japan sent a space probe to look like small boulders of coal or grains of black sand.

The stones, only one centimeter (0.4 inches) thick, were brought to Earth by the Hayabusa2 spacecraft on its journey to the asteroid Ryugu, located more than 300 million kilometers (190 million miles) from Earth.

The spacecraft landed on the Australian plains, and the samples were transported to Japan earlier this month.

The sand samples described last week by the Japanese Space Agency came from the first spacecraft mission, in April 2019.

The largest fragments come from the compartment allocated for the second mission to Ryugu, said Tomohiro Usui, a space expert scientist.

To obtain the second set of samples in July last year, Hayabusa2 drilled deep into the asteroid’s surface and detonated an explosive, rushing to collect the matter before it was contaminated by space radiation.