Guinness World Records Ltd. has recognized the Hayabusa space probe as the world's first spacecraft to return to Earth with material collected from an asteroid, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said Monday.
The certificate, dated May 23 and delivered to the space agency known as JAXA on June 2, says the unmanned spacecraft "landed on Earth with its precious cargo of tiny grains of material collected from the surface of the asteroid Itokawa."
JAXA said it released the certificate Monday, which fell upon the first anniversary of the spacecraft's return to Earth on June 13, 2010.
Guinness World Records also recognized Hayabusa as "the first spacecraft to lift off from an asteroid."
Last June, Hayabusa, which was blasted off from Earth in 2003, re-entered Earth's atmosphere, completing a seven-year trip spanning 6 billion km.
It released the pan-shaped, heat-resistant capsule containing the asteroid material before burning up. The capsule landed in the desert in southern Australia.