In brief Japan's space agency (Jaxa) said yesterday that it will try for another landing with its Hayabusa probe. The attempt was scheduled to take place this morning.

The spacecraft is on a mission to collect a sample of the asteroid Ikotawa and return it to Earth. Yesterday, Jaxa said the probe had touched down on the asteroid, but that its sample collection equipment hadn't activated.

Previously, mission controllers thought the probe had failed to make its landing at all. ®