China’s Tianwen-2 probe captures selfie with Earth
BEIJING, 2 October (BelTA — Xinhua) — The China National Space
Administration (CNSA) on Wednesday unveiled a remarkable image of the
Tianwen-2 probe alongside Earth, captured during its deep-space journey.
According
to CNSA, the Tianwen-2 probe is currently approximately 43 million
kilometers from Earth and 45 million kilometers from the asteroid
2016HO3.
The probe has successfully completed a series of
in-orbit tests, including the deployment of sampling devices and
self-checks of electronic devices. All systems are reported to be
functioning normally, while onboard instruments have begun collecting
valuable scientific data on the space environment, according to the
CNSA.
China launched its first asteroid sample-return mission,
Tianwen-2, on May 29 — an endeavour to shed light on the formation and
evolution of asteroids and the early solar system.
The mission
aims to achieve multiple goals over a decade-long expedition: collecting
samples from near-Earth asteroid 2016HO3 and exploring the main-belt
comet 311P, which is farther from Earth than Mars.
