China’s Tianwen-2 successfully arrives at its target asteroid, Kamo-oalewa
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China has finally confirmed that its first asteroid probe, Tianwen-2, has reached and successfully begun proximity operations next to the asteroid Kamoʻoalewa (2016HO3).
The picture to the right is the first released by China’s state-run press, apparently taken during approach to help guide it.
China’s Tianwen-2 probe has successfully arrived at a distance of 20 kilometers from the asteroid 2016HO3, enabling it to begin scientific exploration after an approximately 400-day journey of about 1 billion kilometers, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced on Monday.
The spacecraft will spend a year at Kamo’oalewa — which is only 130 to 440 feet across — where it will attempt to grab samples using two different methods. The first is a copy of the touch-and-go technique used by OSIRIS-REx on Bennu. The second method, dubbed “anchor and attach,” is untried, and involves using four robot arms, each with their own drill.
After delivering these samples back to Earth the plan is to send Tianwen-2 out to visit Comet 311P.
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It’s going to be a carbon based thing, with amino’s and such, but has been bombarded by hard gamma for a long time. They EXPECT a silicon basis.