TOKYO, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- A capsule from the Hayabusa2 space probe possibly containing samples from an asteroid it landed on has been transported to Japan, the national aerospace and space agency (JAXA) said on Tuesday.

According to the space agency, the probe was collected from the Australian desert two days earlier and transported to Japan.

The probe's payload of samples from the asteroid may help scientists understand the origins of life, JAXA said.

Early in the morning, a jet landed at Tokyo's Haneda airport and JAXA said a truck was carrying the capsule to its Sagamihara Campus in Kanagawa Prefecture next to Tokyo.