Water found in asteroid dust collected by Japan's Hayabusa probe

An image showing asteroid Itokawa

Source: © Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency

Scientists calculate that half of the water on Earth could have been delivered by meteorites

For the first time water has been detected in mineral samples from the surface an asteroid. Researchers at Arizona State University in the US examined tiny grains from the surface of the peanut-shaped asteroid Itokawa, which were collected during the Japanese space agency Jaxa’s Hayabusa mission and returned to Earth in 2010.