An asteroid sample collected by NASA's Osiris-Rex spacecraft is under analysis in Japan, and is undergoing comparisons with an asteroid sample collected during Japan's Hayabusa2 mission, it was learned Wednesday.

A team of researchers, including Hokkaido University professor Hisayoshi Yurimoto, started studying sand grains from asteroid Bennu that were brought to Earth by the U.S. unmanned probe.

The team is also analyzing a sample from asteroid Ryugu brought by the Hayabusa2 explorer of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA.