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Japanese scientists have confirmed that particles found inside the Hayabusa probe after its seven-year space trip are from the asteroid Itokawa.

The successful announcement marks a huge triumph for Japan, as it is the first time that extraterrestrial samples from an asteroid have been returned to Earth. Furthermore, the particles collected by Hayabusa are only the fourth set of extraterrestrial materials to have ever been brought back to our planet by spacecraft.

The Hayabusa mission spent three weeks orbiting asteroid Itokawa in 2005 and attempted to pluck dust from its surface. The $200m (£125m) mission encountered many technical problems, from being hit by a solar flare to experiencing propulsion glitches. No-one was quite sure whether it had succeeded at the time because the capture mechanism appeared to fail just as the craft approached the asteroid's surface to make the acquisition.

Scientists at the Japanese space agency's (JAXA) Sagamihara Campus in Kanagawa have spent the last five months subjecting minuscule grains found inside the canister to detailed examination.

Professor Trevor Ireland, an Australian scientist working on the mission who was involved in the preliminary examination described how: "The identification of extraterrestrial particles in the Hayabusa sample capsule is an astounding achievement. While the particles are small, no more than the width of a human hair, they hold the tell-tale signature of extraterrestrial material."

You can read the official announcement on JAXA's dedicated Hayabusa website, where you can also find some general information about asteroids.