When last we checked in with Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft in April, it had blown a crater in a large rock that orbits the sun. On Wednesday night (Thursday morning in Japan), the robotic probe went in for a landing, and appeared to have successfully touched down on the asteroid’s surface.

Hayabusa2 was launched in 2014 to collect samples from Ryugu, an asteroid that orbits the sun between Earth and Mars and has a diameter of just over a half mile. By returning to Earth next year with these specimens, the mission will help scientists seek clues about the solar system’s origins.

Earlier in the year, the spacecraft used explosives and a projectile to liberate rock from beneath the asteroid’s outer layers. In the latest operation, it descended to the surface of the asteroid before 9:30 p.m. Eastern time, attempting to swiftly grab a sample of material from the crater it made.