Japanese scientists are making final preparations to retrieve a capsule that will be released from Japan's space probe Hayabusa2. The capsule is scheduled to land on a desert in Australia early on Sunday, local time.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, plans to land the capsule, which is believed to contain sand that the probe collected from an asteroid called Ryugu. The landing will take place at around 2:50 a.m. on Sunday, Japan time.

SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule carrying four astronauts has successfully docked with the International Space Station. The landmark mission is years in the making and is helping usher in a new era of space travel.

The crew are conducting safety procedures before opening the hutch and entering what will be their home for the next six months.

Japan's space agency says members of a team tasked with retrieving the capsule from the Hayabusa2 probe will be quarantined for more than three weeks before beginning their task.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, plans to send the 73-member team to Australia, where the capsule is scheduled to land in a desert area in early December.

Japan's space agency says its probe Hayabusa2 is scheduled to release in early December a capsule believed to contain samples of an asteroid. The capsule will be disengaged at a position about 220,000 kilometers away from Earth and will then make its way back home.

A team of scientists at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, aims to bring back sand and other materials from the asteroid Ryugu's surface with the Hayabusa2.