A capsule containing fragments of the asteroid Bennu landed in a remote part of the Utah desert.
The container which was jettisoned from the space probe O-SIRUS REx landed safely in the desert at 03:52 Monday morning.
It entered Earth's atmosphere at 44,500 kilometres an hour.
The capsule's journey began seven years ago, when it left Earth, taking a sample from the asteroid in 2020, before returning back to Earth Monday morning.
University of Canterbury planetary astronomer Michele Bannister spoke to Corin Dann.
