On Wednesday, May 29, China marked a historic milestone in space exploration. Its space agency sent the Tianwen-2 probe into space aboard a Long March 3B rocket. This advanced mission is designed to collect samples from asteroid 2016 HO3 and continue to explore comet 311P after its return to Earth in 2027.
The spacecraft is equipped with 11 scientific instruments and has 13 complex mission phases ahead of it. The main goal is not only to obtain samples from small solar system bodies, but also to push the boundaries of technologies such as autonomous navigation, low-gravity sampling and deep interplanetary transfer.
The mission, led by China's National Space Agency, represents a major step forward in planetary research and holds out hope for a deeper understanding of the evolution of the early Solar System.
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