A spacecraft that successfully returned from deep space carrying samples of an asteroid has been transported to Houston, where scientists will study the samples.

The NASA spacecraft Osiris-Rex completed its seven-year journey from space to Earth on Sunday, landing in Utah and carrying samples of the asteroid Bennu. Scientists believe that these samples could provide answers on Earth's origin, as well as explain why it is a habitable planet.

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“We can’t wait to crack into it," Dante Lauretta, the mission's lead scientist, said. "For me, the real science is just beginning."

The scientists will look into parts of the sample over the course of two years, though most of it will be stored for people to study in the future. The spacecraft's capsule carried at least a cup of rubble from Bennu, which is an asteroid rich in carbon.

Osiris-Rex's haul from the asteroid marks the biggest haul of space debris from beyond the moon.

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In the event that a government shutdown starts by the end of this week, NASA officials have said that the Bennu sample will be stored and kept safe, though some analysis of the sample could be delayed.

For Osiris-Rex, the spacecraft will be renamed Osiris-Apex and will soon go on another mission to collect samples from another asteroid, this one by the name of Apophis.