13.07.2024
China's Tianwen 2 probe is set to launch aboard a Long March 3B rocket in May 2025. This mission aims to collect samples from a near-Earth asteroid and deliver them to Earth, followed by a journey to study a comet in deep space.
The probe's first target is the near-Earth asteroid 469219, known as Kamo'oalewa in Hawaiian. After reaching the asteroid, Tianwen 2 will perform remote sensing to identify suitable landing sites. The spacecraft will then collect samples using two techniques: touch-and-go and anchor-and-attach. The samples will be brought back to Earth for analysis.
Kamo'oalewa is approximately 14.5 million kilometers from Earth, and the mission will span about two and a half years. "This is the first time an asteroid sampling mission is using the anchor-and-attach method, with the autonomously operating lander employing four robotic arms with drills to secure itself onto the surface."
Success in this mission could reveal whether Kamo'oalewa is a primitive planetary body or a fragment of the moon ejected by an asteroid impact, as suggested by a French analysis in April.
By retrieving samples from Kamo'oalewa, Tianwen 2 will test technologies for round trips from asteroids, paving the way for future mining endeavors in the Asteroid Belt.
Asteroids like Psyche, which contains 30 to 60 percent metal, are believed to hold valuable resources worth $100,000 quadrillion.
After sending the sample capsule back to Earth, Tianwen 2 will use a gravitational assist from Earth to set course for the main-belt comet 311P/PANSTARRS. The probe is expected to reach the comet in about seven years, where it will conduct a remote sensing study.
China's ambitious space plans include Tianwen 3, a sample-return mission to Mars scheduled for 2028, and Tianwen 4, a mission to explore both Jupiter and Uranus, set for launch around 2030.
These cost-effective missions aim to enhance our understanding of the solar system's early stages, assess space resources, and develop strategies for asteroid-strike defense.
Quelle: SD
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Update: 18.07.2025
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China's Tianwen 2 asteroid-sampling probe snaps gorgeous shots of Earth and the moon
The images sent home from Tianwen 2 show the spacecraft is operating well as it heads out into deep space
China's Tianwen 2 probe has captured striking pictures of home as it heads out to a near-Earth asteroid to collect samples.
Tianwen 2 launched from Xichang on a Long March 3B rocket on May 28 and is en route to the enigmatic asteroid Kamo'oalewa. But shortly after departure, the spacecraft took the opportunity to test out its cameras.
The China National Space Administration (CNSA) released a statement on July 1 including images of Earth and the moon. The image of Earth was captured by Tianwen 2's narrow field of view navigation sensor while 590,000 kilometers (367,000 miles) away from the planet on May 30. A couple of hours later, the same instrument took a shot of the moon from a similar distance.
This photo of Earth was taken by the narrow field of view navigation sensor of China's Tianwen 2 asteroid probe on May 30, 2025, when the spacecraft was about 367,000 miles (590,000 kilometers) from our planet. (Image credit: CNSA)
At the time of that update, Tianwen 2 had been in Earth orbit for 33 days, CNSA officials said. The probe was more than 12 million km (7.46 million miles) away from Earth and was in good working condition. Previously, Tianwen 2 returned an image of one of its two circular solar arrays using an engineering camera, providing our first glimpse of the actual spacecraft.
Tianwen 2 is China's first asteroid mission. It aims to collect samples from Kamo'oalewa, one Earth's seven known "quasi moons," and is expected to arrive at the rocky body around July 2026. It will then study the small asteroid to determine possible landing sites before collecting samples and heading for home, delivering its precious payload in a reentry capsule in late 2027. Analysis of the samples could shed light on the early days of our solar system.
This full-color photo of the moon was taken by the narrow field of view navigation sensor of China's Tianwen 2 asteroid probe on May 30, 2025, when the spacecraft was about 367,000 miles (590,000 kilometers) from our planet. (Image credit: CNSA)
"[This asteroid] is very likely to hold the original information of the solar system at its birth, which is of great scientific research value for our understanding of the material composition of the early solar system, including its formation process and evolutionary history," Han Siyuan, deputy director of the Lunar Exploration and Space Engineering Center (LESEC) under CNSA, told Chinese state-run broadcaster CCTV.
Tianwen 2's mission won't end there. The spacecraft will use its return to Earth to make a gravity slingshot maneuver to send it onto the next step of its journey: a rendezvous with the main belt comet311P/PANSTARRS, which will occur around 2035.
Quelle: SC