Science News Roundup: Bezos says Blue Origin will take the first woman to moon's surface; Japan retrieves asteroid samples in hunt for origins of planets and more

Bezos says Blue Origin will take the first woman to moon's surface Jeff Bezos' space company Blue Origin will take the first woman to the moon's surface, the billionaire said on Friday as NASA nears a decision to pick its first privately built lunar landers capable of sending astronauts to the moon by 2024.

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

Japan retrieves asteroid samples in hunt for origins of planets

Japan has retrieved a capsule of asteroid dust from Australia's remote outback after a six-year mission that may help uncover more about the origins of the planets and water, the Asian nation's space agency said on Sunday. The mission of the Japanese spacecraft, Hayabusa2, spotlights Asia's growing role in space exploration, with a Chinese robotic vehicle collecting lunar samples last week for the first time since the 1970s.

Bezos says Blue Origin will take the first woman to moon's surface

Jeff Bezos' space company Blue Origin will take the first woman to the moon's surface, the billionaire said on Friday as NASA nears a decision to pick its first privately built lunar landers capable of sending astronauts to the moon by 2024. "This (BE-7) is the engine that will take the first woman to the surface of the Moon," Bezos said in a post on Instagram with a video of the engine test this week at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.