JAKARTA - China's Tianwen-2 spacecraft has managed to approach the asteroid 2016HO3 to a distance of 20 kilometers. After traveling about 1 billion kilometers for almost 400 days, this mission began to enter the scientific exploration phase before sampling.
Quoted from Xinhua, Monday, July 6, the China National Space Administration or CNSA announced the achievement on Monday, July 6.
Tianwen-2 was launched on May 29, 2025. This is China's first mission to take an asteroid sample and bring it back to Earth.
The mission is not short. In an expedition of about a decade, Tianwen-2 is targeted to collect samples from the near-Earth asteroid 2016HO3. After that, the spacecraft will also explore the main belt comet 311P, a celestial body that is farther away from Mars.
During the approach phase, Tianwen-2 has taken images of the asteroid. The mission team then used optical navigation data from the close approach to refine the asteroid's position and trajectory calculations.
In astronomy, the position and trajectory data of celestial objects are called ephemeris. Previously, the position of the asteroid was only calculated from Earth-based observations. Its position uncertainty still reaches hundreds of kilometers.
With Tianwen-2's new data, the uncertainty is narrowed to a kilometer scale. This means that the mission team now has a much more precise picture to guide the spacecraft in the next phase.
On the way to the asteroid, Tianwen-2 performed a distant space maneuver and trajectory correction. These two steps are important for the spacecraft to remain on the correct path to the small target moving in space.
On June 6, 2026, the spacecraft detected the asteroid for the first time. A day later, while at a distance of 30,000 kilometers, Tianwen-2 entered a trajectory with the asteroid, which is a motion path that is in the same orbital plane.
On June 19, the distance got closer. The spacecraft managed to approach the asteroid up to 2,000 kilometers before finally arriving at a distance of 20 kilometers.
According to CNSA, Tianwen-2 will then conduct more detailed scientific exploration. Data being hunted includes the shape of the asteroid, the composition of the material, and the structure of the inside.
This information is important before the sampling operation is carried out. In a mission like this, recognizing the shape and character of the asteroid's surface is the main supply so that the sampling process can be carried out safely.
In addition to taking samples from the asteroid 2016HO3, Tianwen-2 is also scheduled to continue its mission to the main belt comet 311P, which is farther away from Mars.
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