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China’s Tianwen-2 lifts off on mission to bring asteroid samples back to Earth
Plan is for spacecraft to first visit 2016 HO3, which could be a fragment of the moon, then start a seven-year journey to comet 311P.
China has launched an ambitious mission to bring asteroid samples back to Earth – part of broader efforts to explore the solar system and make advances in planetary science, resource utilisation and defence. The spacecraft’s first planned visit is asteroid 469219 Kamo’oalewa (2016 HO3) – a small, fast-spinning quasi-satellite of Earth which scientists believe may be a fragment of the moon. After that, the main spacecraft will use the Earth’s gravity for a slingshot manoeuvre and begin a seven-year journey to comet 311P/PANSTARRS – an object in the solar system’s asteroid belt, known for shedding dust in multiple tails.
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