Japan has launched a space module on a six-year return trip aimed at blowing a hole in a remote asteroid to try to find clues to how the Earth came about.
Hayabusa 2 successfully blasted off on a H-IIA rocket from the Tanegashima Space Centre in southern Japan at 1.22pm local time after being delayed by bad weather.
The space explorer separated once the rocket had climbed out of the Earth's gravitational pull, trailing orange flames in its wake.
The probe will use the Earth's gravity as a slingshot to propel it towards its target.
The $260m (£166m) project will send it towards the 1999JU3 asteroid in deep space - the carbonaceous asteroid is thought to contain organic matter and water, the stuff of life.
The probe's aim is to collect materials unexposed to millennia of wind and radiation in the hope of answering some fundamental questions about life and the universe.
It is expected to reach the asteroid in mid-2018 and spend around 18 months in the area.
Akitaka Kishi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said: "Our objective is to explore. For people to work in space, it requires various kinds of technology.
"In that sense, exploring is a step forward to expanding activities in space in a broader way. Our aim to explore lends great meaning to this mission."
He continued: "If we bring back the material, in a way we can call that a success, but, furthermore, the retrieved rocks and sand taken for analysis would be a finding.
"For the human race, this will be a new finding that could possibly mean a new discovery for us. Bringing back the material is one goal, but the research of the finding is the future."
If all goes well, asteroid samples will be returned to Earth in late 2020.
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Gallery: Philae Lander's Touchdown Seen From Rosetta Craft
This image shows the Philae lander approximately 250m above the comet's surface, as it heads for the planned touchdown point (Pic: ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM)
This image was taken 86 seconds after touchdown. Scientists say the dark area could be dust kicked up by the touchdown (Pic: ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM)
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