Latest news with #Kamoʻoalewa
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
China launches Tianwen-2 space probe to collect samples from asteroid near Mars
China has launched a space probe that will travel to an asteroid near Mars to collect samples and find potential "groundbreaking" results. The Tianwen-2 probe launched Thursday from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province aboard the workhorse Long March 3-B rocket, according to the China National Space Administration (CNSA). The target of the Tianwen-2 will be different from its predecessor, the Tianwen-1, which launched a year ago and landed on Mars. Tianwen-2 will be aiming for the asteroid 2016 HO3, which is also known as 469219 Kamoʻoalewa, to bring back samples. China's Secret Weapon In The Space Race Is Already Hurting Us The proposed 10-year plan would involve more than just this space mission as China continues to look to expand into space. Read On The Fox News App Zhang Rongqiao, chief designer of the Tianwen-1, told China Central Television he plans to implement the "Tianwen-3" Mars sampling return mission in 2028, while the "Tianwen-4" will head toward Jupiter. According to The Associated Press, the asteroids, chosen for their relatively stable orbits, will hopefully offer clues about the formation of Earth, such as the origins of water. Us Prepares To Deorbit International Space Station Amid China Competition Samples from 2016HO3 are due to be returned in about two years. Even if the CNSA is going to distribute these samples to international partners like they have on previous missions, NASA wouldn't be able to receive any samples. A law passed in 2011, known as the Wolf Amendment, restricts NASA from having any cooperation with the CNSA. China also operates the three-person Tiangong, or "Heavenly Palace," space station. This gives China a step in the right direction to become a major force in the exploration of space. Its permanent station was created after being excluded from the International Space Station over U.S. national security concerns. The Associated Press contributed to this storyOriginal article source: China launches Tianwen-2 space probe to collect samples from asteroid near Mars
Yahoo
a day ago
- General
- Yahoo
China launches Tianwen-2 to chase Moon-origin asteroid, explore hybrid comet
China has launched its most ambitious deep space mission yet. On Wednesday, the Tianwen-2 probe lifted off atop a Long March 3B rocket at 1:31 pm Eastern (17:31 UTC) from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province. The mission aims to collect samples from a near-Earth asteroid and later survey a comet in the main asteroid belt, marking the country's first asteroid sampling effort. Tianwen-2 is now en route to asteroid 469219 Kamoʻoalewa (2016 HO3), a small rocky body orbiting close to Earth. The probe is expected to reach the asteroid in mid-2026 and return samples to Earth in 2027. After the sample return, it will continue its journey toward comet 311P/PANSTARRS, with arrival expected around 2035. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) confirmed the successful launch just over an hour after liftoff. Xinhua reported that 'the spacecraft unfolded its solar panels smoothly,' and the China National Space Administration (CNSA) officially declared the mission a success. Discovered in 2016 by researchers in Hawaii, Kamoʻoalewa is believed to be a fragment of the Moon. Scientists hope to analyze its structure, mineral content, and origin. It is roughly 40 to 100 meters in diameter. Depending on surface conditions, the mission will employ three sampling methods — hover sampling, touch-and-go, and anchored drilling. Tianwen-2 will then use Earth's gravity to redirect itself toward comet 311P. The comet orbits between Mars and Jupiter and displays asteroid-like behavior, making it ideal for studying transitional objects in the solar system. Reaching and sampling small celestial bodies is more challenging than orbiting planets. The mission must navigate weak and irregular gravity fields, which rule out traditional orbiting methods. 'These bodies have extremely weak and irregular gravity fields,' Franco Perez-Lissi, Ramses mission systems engineer at the European Space Agency (ESA), told SpaceNews. 'So we cannot rely on traditional orbiting like we do around the planet.' Tianwen-2 must closely match the asteroid's rotation and speed for successful sampling. Perez-Lissi likened the maneuver to 'trying to dock a boat with a mountain floating in space and tumbling really unpredictably and with almost no gravity.' The probe carries 11 science payloads, including spectrometers, high-resolution cameras, a radar sounder, and particle detectors. These will study the composition, geological features, magnetic fields, and solar wind interactions at both the asteroid and the comet. Past missions like NASA's OSIRIS-REx and JAXA's Hayabusa2 have returned organic materials, including amino acids and nucleobases—key building blocks of life. Tianwen-2 follows the successful Tianwen-1 Mars mission and precedes plans for Mars sample return and Jupiter system exploration. These missions are part of a long-term roadmap that includes the International Lunar Research Station and a Venus sample return. According to Xinhua, Shan Zhongde, head of the CNSA, 'expressed his expectation of yielding groundbreaking discoveries and expanding humanity's knowledge of the cosmos.' China continues to invest heavily in space, with its Tiangong space station now operational and a crewed Moon mission planned for later this decade. Tianwen-2 could mark another leap forward in China's 'space dream,' as articulated by President Xi Jinping.
Express Tribune
2 days ago
- Science
- Express Tribune
China launches first space mission to retrieve asteroid samples
An artistic concept of Tianwen-2 spacecraft near an asteroid. PHOTO: ORBITAL TODAY WEBSITE Listen to article China embarked on Thursday on its first mission to retrieve samples from a nearby asteroid, with the nighttime launch of its Tianwen-2 spacecraft, set to make the fast-growing space power the third nation to fetch pristine asteroid rocks. The decade-long mission is the latest in recent space efforts that include landing robots on the moon's far side, running a national space station in orbit and investing heavily in plans to send humans to the moon by 2030. The Long March 3B rocket lifted off at about 1:31 a.m. from the Xichang satellite launch center carrying the Tianwen-2 robotic probe. Over the next year it will approach the small near-Earth asteroid 469219 Kamoʻoalewa, which is between 9 million miles and 24 million miles (15 million km and 39 million km) distant. China's official news agency Xinhua confirmed the launch of Tianwen-2, calling it a "complete success". Tianwen-2 is set to reach the asteroid in July 2026 and shoot a capsule packed with rocks back to Earth for a landing in November 2027. Then it will fly to its second target, main-belt comet 311P/PanSTARRS, on a journey lasting years, as the comet's closest distance to Earth is about 87 million miles. Located in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, Comet 311P is far closer to the Sun than the region where typical comets originate. The odd location makes it unlikely to have the surface ice of typical comets that, once vaporised, forms their characteristic tails. Tianwen-2 will make in-depth studies of the main features of Kamoʻoalewa and 311P, including possibly the material ejected by the latter, an official of the China National Space Administration (CNSA) said. Returning samples from Kamo'oalewa will be far more challenging than China's successful lunar missions, mainly because the asteroid's gravity is much lower than that of the moon, making landing and sampling much harder. Japan's Hayabusa, which fetched samples from a small asteroid in 2010, was the world's first such mission, followed by its Ryugu mission of 2019. In 2020, the first US asteroid retrieval mission, OSIRIS-REx, brought back samples from the Bennu asteroid. Kamoʻoalewa is known as a quasi-satellite of Earth, a close celestial neighbour that has orbited the sun for roughly a century, NASA says. Its size is anywhere between 120 feet and 300 feet (40 m and 100 m). Tianwen-2's predecessor, Tianwen-1, another uncrewed spacecraft launched in 2020, was China's first mission to Mars, successfully landing on a vast plain known as Utopia Planitia after a six-month journey. China is already planning its third interplanetary mission, Tianwen-3, scheduled tentatively for 2028, which could make it the first country to retrieve samples from Mars. Last month CNSA announced payload capacity of 20 kg (44 lb) for foreign countries and research institutions aboard the orbiter and lander that will explore the red planet.
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
2 days ago
- Science
- First Post
China launches mission to retrieve asteroid samples
China has launched its Tianwen-2 spacecraft to collect samples from the asteroid 469219 Kamoʻoalewa and to return them by 2027. read more China has launched the Tianwen-2 spacecraft on a mission to collect samples from the asteroid 469219 Kamoʻoalewa, with plans to return them to Earth by 2027. (Photo: Space News) China on Wednesday embarked on its first mission to retrieve samples from a nearby asteroid with the nighttime launch of its Tianwen-2 spacecraft, a robotic probe that could make the fast-growing space power the third nation to fetch pristine asteroid rocks. China's Long March 3B rocket lifted off around 1:31 a.m. local time from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center carrying the Tianwen-2 spacecraft, which over the next year will approach the small near-Earth asteroid named 469219 Kamoʻoalewa, some 10 million miles away. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Chinese state media Xinhua confirmed the launch of Tianwen-2 and dubbed it a 'complete success.' Tianwen-2 is scheduled to arrive at the asteroid in July 2026 and shoot a capsule packed with rocks back to Earth for a landing in November 2027. The mission is the latest example of China's swiftly expanding space programs, a streak of cosmic achievements in recent years that includes landing robots on the far side of the moon, running its own national space station in orbit and investing heavily in plans to send humans to the lunar surface by 2030. Japan's Hayabusa that fetched samples from a small asteroid in 2010 marked the world's first such mission. Japan did it again in 2019 with its Ryugu mission, followed by the first U.S. asteroid retrieval mission, OSIRIS-REx, that brought back samples from the Bennu asteroid in 2020. Kamoʻoalewa, the target asteroid for Tianwen-2, is known as a quasi-satellite of Earth, a close celestial neighbor that has orbited the sun for roughly a century, according to NASA. Its size is anywhere between 120 feet (40 meters) and 300 feet (100 meters). (Except headline, this story has not been edited by Firstpost staff) STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
Daily Maverick
2 days ago
- Science
- Daily Maverick
China launches mission to retrieve asteroid samples
China's Long March 3B rocket lifted off around 1:31 a.m. local time from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center carrying the Tianwen-2 spacecraft, which over the next year will approach the small near-Earth asteroid named 469219 Kamoʻoalewa, some 10 million miles away. Chinese state media Xinhua confirmed the launch of Tianwen-2 and dubbed it a 'complete success.' Tianwen-2 is scheduled to arrive at the asteroid in July 2026 and shoot a capsule packed with rocks back to Earth for a landing in November 2027. The mission is the latest example of China's swiftly expanding space programs, a streak of cosmic achievements in recent years that includes landing robots on the far side of the moon, running its own national space station in orbit and investing heavily in plans to send humans to the lunar surface by 2030. Japan's Hayabusa that fetched samples from a small asteroid in 2010 marked the world's first such mission. Japan did it again in 2019 with its Ryugu mission, followed by the first U.S. asteroid retrieval mission, OSIRIS-REx, that brought back samples from the Bennu asteroid in 2020. Kamoʻoalewa, the target asteroid for Tianwen-2, is known as a quasi-satellite of Earth, a close celestial neighbor that has orbited the sun for roughly a century, according to NASA. Its size is anywhere between 120 feet (40 meters) and 300 feet (100 meters).
