China’s Tianwen-2 Mission: A Giant Leap Toward Asteroid Exploration
China is making history this week with the launch of Tianwen-2, its first mission to survey and sample a near-Earth asteroid. The target: 469219 Kamo‘oalewa, a mysterious quasi-satellite of Earth with unique orbital behavior. This ambitious mission marks China’s entry into the elite group of nations—alongside the United States and Japan—that have successfully conducted asteroid sample-return missions. What is Tianwen-2? Tianwen-2 is the latest step in China’s rapidly advancing space exploration agenda. Building on the success of previous lunar and Mars missions, Tianwen-2 aims to: Investigate [...]