China's Tianwen 2 spacecraft sends home 1st photo as it heads for mysterious 'quasi-moon' asteroid
Space.comSunday, June 8, 2025 at 10:00:00 AM
China just shared the first snapshot from its Tianwen 2 spacecraft, which is currently cruising through space on its way to a weird little asteroid that behaves like a "quasi-moon" near Earth. The probe’s already 3 million kilometers away—just getting started on its ambitious mission to grab samples from this cosmic oddball and bring them home.
Editor’s Note: This isn’t just another space photo—it’s proof China’s asteroid mission is underway and working as planned. The target asteroid, Kamoʻoalewa, is fascinating because it’s Earth’s "mini-moon," orbiting the sun but sticking close to us. If Tianwen 2 succeeds, it could reveal secrets about these mysterious space rocks and how they interact with our planet. Plus, it’s another sign of China’s growing ambitions in deep space, where every mission reshapes what we know (and who’s leading the charge).
— Curated via WP Now’s
