Japanese Spacecraft to Start Journey Home - Yahoo! News:
"JAXA said the Hayabusa appeared to have touched down for a few seconds on the asteroid about 180 million miles from Earth, collecting powder from its surface and then lifting off again to transmit data to mission controllers.
But the agency will not know for sure if Hayabusa collected surface samples until it returns to Earth. It is expected to land in Australia's Outback in June 2007, more than four years after its launch in May 2003."
