Latest news with #Tianwen2
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
China's Tianwen-2 Probe To Collect Samples From An Earth Quasi-Moon
The Tianwen-2 probe is being prepped for launch at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province. The probe will "collect samples from the near-Earth asteroid 2016 HO3 and conducting an exploration of comet 311P," according to China Central Television. Credit: | footage courtesy: China Central Television (CCTV) | edited by Steve Spaleta Solve the daily Crossword
NDTV
01-07-2025
- Science
- NDTV
China's Tianwen 2 Sends Stunning Images Of Earth And Moon From Deep Space: See Pics
The China National Space Administration (CNSA) released images of Earth and the moon on Tuesday, taken by the Tianwen 2 spacecraft from deep space, according to Xinhua. The probe was launched on May 29 using a Long March-3B rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan, and the images were taken a day later, on May 30. See images here: 33 days following launch, #Tianwen2 is passing 12 million km distance from Earth. CNSA released photos of the Earth and Moon taken by ANAC (窄视场导航敏感器 / Asteroid Narrow Angle Camera) when the spacecraft was 590K km from each body. — WLR2678🌌 (@WLR_2678) July 1, 2025 Currently, the probe is reportedly around 12 million kilometres away from Earth. It has spent more than 33 days in space so far. The mission aims to collect samples from the near-Earth asteroid 2016 HO3 (or 469219 Kamo'oalewa) and explore the main-belt comet 311P, which would help provide insights into the early solar system's formation and evolution. As per the report, the space agency published the stunning pictures, taken by the spacecraft's narrow-field-of-view navigation sensor, when it was about 590,000 kilometres away from the Blue Planet. What is the future of the Tianwen 2 mission? The mission is expected to return samples to Earth by November 2027, with the probe collecting between 0.2 and 1 kilogram of soil from the asteroid. The Tianwen-2 mission is planned to last around 10 years. During the given period, the probe would visit the asteroid and comet, and return samples to Earth. The mission will help scientists understand the composition, formation, and evolutionary history of the solar system's early materials. If successful, the probe would also provide insights into the origins of water on Earth. China has several important missions planned for the coming years. Beijing plans to send Chinese astronauts to the Moon before 2030 and establish a permanent base there, as part of its ambitious "space dream" under Xi Jinping's leadership.
South China Morning Post
01-07-2025
- Science
- South China Morning Post
China's Tianwen-2 returns Earth, moon images as land team simulates lunar lava cave probe
China's space agency on Tuesday released images of the Earth and moon captured by its asteroid-sampling Tianwen-2 spacecraft, while confirming that the probe was in good condition after more than a month in orbit. Advertisement The images were taken by the Tianwen-2 spacecraft's narrow field-of-view navigation sensor on May 30, according to the China National Space Administration (CNSA), which released them after image processing on the ground. This comes days after state media reported that researchers in northeastern China were testing autonomous robots in underground lava caves to simulate the terrain these may explore during future lunar missions. The Tianwen-2 spacecraft has been in orbit since it was launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in southwestern China on May 29. The probe was orbiting at a distance of more than 12 million kilometres (7.5 million miles) from Earth and was in 'good working condition', CNSA said in a news release on its website on Tuesday. The moon as pictured by the Tianwen-2. Photo: Xinhua The first image of the Earth was taken when the spacecraft was 590,000km from the planet, and the image of the moon was taken several hours later at a similar distance from the lunar surface.
The Star
01-07-2025
- Science
- The Star
China's asteroid sampling spacecraft sends back pictures of Earth and moon
This image released by the China National Space Administration shows a view of the Earth captured by the Tianwen 2 probe on May 30, 2025 and post-processed by scientific researchers. - Supplied/China Daily BEIJING: China's Tianwen 2 asteroid sampling spacecraft had been on its interplanetary itinerary for over 33 days as of Tuesday (July 1) morning, with the robotic probe being more than 12 million kilometres away from Earth, according to the China National Space Administration. The administration said in a brief news release that the Tianwen 2 spacecraft is travelling in a transfer trajectory toward its destination, an asteroid called 2016 HO3, and had been in a good condition by that morning. The administration also published two pictures taken by the spacecraft's narrow-field-of-view navigation sensor, showing Earth and the moon when it was about 590,000km away from our mother planet and the moon, respectively. The Tianwen 2, representing China's first attempt to bring pristine asteroid materials back to Earth, was launched on May 29 by a Long March 3B carrier rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Southwest China's Sichuan province. The mission's primary objective is to reach a small, near-Earth asteroid named 2016 HO3, which is between 40 to 100m wide, in the summer of 2026, where it will first study the celestial body up close using a suite of 11 instruments including cameras, spectrometers and radars, before deploying special devices to collect surface substances. This image released by the China National Space Administration shows a view of the moon captured by the Tianwen 2 probe on May 30, 2025 and post-processed by scientific researchers. -Supplied/China Daily The asteroid, also known as 469219 Kamo'oalewa, orbits the sun, so it remains a constant companion of Earth. It is too distant to be considered a true satellite of Earth, but it is the best and most stable example to date of a quasi-satellite. After the collection work is done, the Tianwen 2 probe is programmed to fly back to Earth's orbit to send a capsule containing the precious samples back to the ground. The samples will be distributed to scientists, who will examine their physical properties, chemical and mineralogical content and isotopic composition, contributing to studies on the formation and evolution of asteroids and the early solar system. Delivering samples to Earth will not be the end of the mission. The spacecraft will then enter the second phase of its mission: flying toward a main-belt comet called 311P to make a remote-sensing survey and transmit the data back to Earth for scientific research, according to the CNSA. The Tianwen 2 mission is expected to yield groundbreaking discoveries and expand humanity's understanding of small celestial bodies inside the solar system and our mother planet, scientists said. - China Daily/ANN
The National
14-06-2025
- Science
- The National
China's asteroid mission aims to uncover Solar System's oldest secrets
China 's latest deep space mission aims to investigate whether rocky debris ejected from planetary surfaces in the early Solar System could have helped distribute life's key ingredients across space. The Tianwen -2 spacecraft, launched on May 29, is on its way to collect material from a small near-Earth asteroid that may be a piece of the Moon. After that, it will travel even farther to study a mysterious object in the asteroid belt that behaves like a comet. Researchers hope the samples will offer fresh clues about how planets like Earth were formed, and whether rocks could have travelled between worlds, carrying water, organic molecules or even microbes with them. 'We selected two targets for this mission: the asteroid 2016 HO3 and the main-belt comet 311P,' said Chen Chunliang from the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. 'Both targets hold significant scientific value. The mission allows us to develop new asteroid exploration technologies while collecting data that could help us better understand how the Solar System began.' The asteroid, also known as Kamoʻoalewa, is a strange little object just 40 metres wide. It orbits the Sun in sync with Earth, making it a 'quasi-moon', an asteroid that stays close to our planet but does not orbit it directly. Its exact origin is uncertain, but one leading theory suggests it may be a chunk of the Moon that was blasted into space by an ancient impact. Prof Erik Asphaug, a planetary scientist at the University of Arizona, said the asteroid is a perfect example of the mix of space rocks that circle near Earth, including pieces of the Moon, dead comets, broken-up asteroids and leftovers from the early Solar System. 'By studying samples from what may be a fragment of the Moon, scientists can figure out how intense the impact was that launched it into space, and whether those conditions could have been survivable for tiny life forms on a planet like Mars,' he said. That idea ties into a scientific theory known as panspermia, the possibility that life, or the ingredients for it, may have travelled between planets inside rocks ejected by powerful impacts. Scientists are also interested in the asteroid's size and spin rate. It completes one rotation every 28 minutes, which is too fast for loosely held-together pile of rocks to stay intact. Mr Asphaug said this could suggest that the asteroid is a single solid piece of rock, or a monolith. 'But how do you eject a 40 metre intact chunk of rock from the Moon, when to escape it has to be accelerated to lunar escape velocity, which is about 2 kilometres a second? This is five times faster than a high-powered rifle bullet,' he said. 'That is the geophysical adventure of Tianwen-2. The compositional adventure may be less stunning, if indeed it is a fragment of the lunar crust, but there's a great deal to learn from its process of ejection,' said Mr Asphaug. 'And I guess there's a small chance that we'll be completely surprised, that it's not a fragment of the Moon at all, in which case there is a lot of explaining to do.' Tianwen-2 will attempt to return samples from the asteroid to Earth by 2027. After completing that phase, the spacecraft will use an Earth gravity assist to journey to comet 311P/PANSTARRS, an object in the asteroid belt that occasionally shoots comet-like tails. The second part of the mission will take several more years, with the spacecraft studying the comet's surface and behaviour in detail. 'In space exploration it has become obvious that there is a most-bang-for-the-buck way of going about asteroid and comet exploration,' said Mr Asphaug. 'Consider Nasa's OSIRIS-REx asteroid rendezvous mission … having returned its sample, now it is heading to a second rendezvous, this time with asteroid Apophis. 'But this secondary mission was not part of the original mission so is subject to ongoing budgetary pressure.' Japan also has a similar mission, with the Hayabusa2 having successfully returning samples of the Ryugu asteroid in 2020, and is now heading towards another small asteroid. China's mission builds on the country's growing portfolio of successful robotic space flights. In 2020, Chang'e-5 returned samples from the Moon's near side. Two years later, Chang'e-6 brought back the first samples from the Moon's far side − another global first. The Tianwen-2 mission also comes at a time when Nasa is struggling with major budget cuts, forcing delays and downsizing across several of its flagship science programmes, including plans for Mars sample return. China is developing its own Mars sample return programme, potentially launching later this decade.
