China's Tianwen 2 Probe to Undertake Ambitious Asteroid and Comet Mission

China's Tianwen 2 Probe to Undertake Ambitious Asteroid and Comet Mission
by Simon Mansfield
Sydney, Australia (SPX) Jul 01, 2024

China's Tianwen 2 probe is set to launch on a Long March 3B rocket in May 2025. This ambitious mission aims to return samples from a near-Earth asteroid and then explore a comet, marking a significant step in space exploration.

The probe's first target is the near-Earth asteroid 469219, also known as Kamo'oalewa in Hawaiian. Tianwen 2 will conduct remote sensing to identify potential landing sites before attempting to collect samples. The mission will utilize two techniques: touch-and-go and anchor-and-attach. The latter method is particularly noteworthy, as it involves an autonomous lander using four robotic arms with drills to secure itself to the asteroid's surface.

"Kamo'oalewa is about 14.5 million kilometers away from the Earth, and this part of the mission will take around two and a half years."

This endeavor is the first to employ the anchor-and-attach technique for asteroid sampling. "If the mission is successful it should be able to determine if Kamo'oalewa is a piece of the moon blasted into space by an asteroid impact as a French analysis of data from ground-based observations, released in April, concludes, or a primitive planetary body."

Returning samples to Earth will allow for technological demonstrations that could pave the way for future asteroid mining. "By collecting samples from Kamo'oalewa and coming back, Tianwen-2 also tests the technologies involved in round trip from asteroids, which brings hope of mining from the Asteroid Belt in the maybe not-so-near future."

Following the sample return, Tianwen 2 will use Earth's gravity to propel itself towards the main-belt comet 311P/PANSTARRS. The spacecraft is expected to arrive at the comet about seven years later to conduct detailed remote sensing studies.

China's space ambitions extend beyond Tianwen 2. The Tianwen 3 mission, scheduled for 2028, aims to return samples from Mars, while Tianwen 4, planned for around 2030, will include a Jupiter orbiter and a Uranus flyby spacecraft.

"Relatively low-cost, such sample return missions can provide a better understanding of the early stages of the solar system and lead the way to the assessment of space resources and their utilization, as well as the development of asteroid defense strategies, with expectations high that an on-target-with-Earth encounter is only a matter of time."