China is about to launch a new space mission, in which the Tianwen-2 probe will collect samples from the asteroid 2016 HO3. This was reported on March 4 at the China Space Science and Technology Corporation (CASC).
The timing of the mission is not specified, but it is known that it was officially included in the space launch program. At the end of April, a conference dedicated to this mission will be held in the city of Hefei.
Beijing announced plans to study the quasi-satellite of the Earth discovered seven years ago – asteroid 2016 HO3 and comet 133P back in April 2019.
Chinese scientists plan that their device will fly around the asteroid, land on it, collect samples, and then return them to Earth.
It is assumed that after the device leaves the asteroid and approaches the Earth, the module with samples will detach, and the probe will fly to the asteroid belt to fly around comet 133P.
At the end of December 2022, it was reported that Chinese astronauts plan to land on the moon by 2030, after which, under the leadership of China, the international lunar research station International Lunar Research Station will be created.
