China has revealed the first-ever image of its secretive Tianwen 2 spacecraft, which is on a mission to collect samples from one of Earth’s “quasi-moons”. The photo shows striking similarities with NASA’s Lucy spacecraft. The probe launched into space two weeks ago and is now about 1.9 million miles away from Earth.
The Tianwen 2 mission aims to land on the asteroid 2016 HO3, also known as Kamo’oalewa, in July 2026. This quasi-satellite orbits the sun alongside Earth but is not gravitationally bound to our planet and will one day float away. China plans to return samples collected from the asteroid to Earth in late 2027.
The spacecraft’s design has been shrouded in secrecy until now. The image released by China’s space agency shows a 10-sided solar panel, similar to NASA’s Lucy mission. The Tianwen 2 probe is scheduled to visit other targets, including the comet-asteroid hybrid 311P/PanSTARRS, by around 2035.
Kamo’oalewa is about 130 feet wide and orbits Earth every 45 years. It’s believed to be a chunk of Earth’s proper moon that was ejected during a meteor strike millions of years ago. The successful launch and image release mark an important milestone for China’s space program.
Source: https://www.livescience.com/space/space-exploration/first-ever-image-of-chinas-mysterious-quasi-moon-probe-revealed-weeks-after-it-secretly-launched-into-space