On 6 December, Ambassador Jan Adams visited the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) Sagamihara Campus to participate in a press conference marking the successful return of the Hayabusa2 capsule, which landed in Woomera, South Australia.
The container carried material from an asteroid which has already been sent to JAXA’s headquarters in Japan to undergo analysis. Ambassador Adams congratulated the President of JAXA, Dr Hiroshi Yamakawa on the success of the operation.
Dr Megan Clark, Head of the Australian Space Agency, was on the ground in Woomera for the return of the capsule and joined the press conference with Ambassador Adams and Dr Yamakawa.
Ambassador Adams said “This is the latest milestone in the long history of Australia-Japan collaboration on space…There is much that our two countries can gain through bilateral industry, research and science collaboration”.
