China is preparing to send into space its first mission to deliver asteroid samples. Its launch is scheduled for May 29.
The Tianwen-2 mission has been under development by the Celestial Empire since the end of the last decade. Its main target is an asteroid called Kamoʻoalewa. Despite its very modest size (its diameter does not exceed a hundred meters), this object has long attracted the attention of scientists. The fact is that Kamoʻoalewa is a quasi-satellite of the Earth. It is in a 1:1 orbital resonance with our planet, allowing it to remain close to it for many orbital periods. Many researchers speculate that Kamoʻoalewa is actually a piece of debris knocked off the moon’s surface after a powerful impact. Which means that studying it could provide important clues about our planet’s companion.
The Tianwen-2 mission plan calls for the spacecraft to enter orbit around Kamoʻoalewa in 2026 and study the asteroid for a year. The mission will culminate in taking a sample of its soil. After that, the spacecraft will set a return course to Earth and drop a capsule with the extracted samples. This is expected to happen in 2028.
After that, Tianwen-2 will move on to the second objective of its expedition. The spacecraft will head into the Main Asteroid Belt and reach a 480-meter object called 311P/PanSTARRS in 2035, after which it will study it for at least one year.
Like Kamoʻoalewa, 311P/PanSTARRS is also a very unusual celestial body. Although its orbit passes in the asteroid belt, astronomers have several times recorded the appearance of comet-like tails. According to one version, they were formed due to the very fast rotation of the asteroid. According to another, it is actually a comet that has virtually lost all of its volatile reserves.
According to the scientists, studies of both Kamoʻoalewa and 311P/PanSTARRS will provide new insights into the formation and evolution of primordial bodies in the Solar System, as well as a better understanding of the origin of water and organic life. Tianwen-2 is to be launched on May 29, 2025. The Chang Zheng 3B/E rocket will be used to launch the vehicle into space.
Earlier we reported that a microorganism unknown to science was found on the Chinese space station “Tiangong”.
