China's Tianwen-2 reaches asteroid after one billion kilometres

China's Tianwen-2 probe has closed to within 20 kilometres of a small asteroid after travelling one billion kilometres through space and begun detailed scientific study. Scientists hope to determine whether the object is a regular asteroid or a fragment of the Moon orbiting close to Earth. The mission's findings could shed light on the history of the Solar System.

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🔬 Science Hayabusa2 and Tianwen-2 reach their asteroids in back-to-back weekend successes Ars Technica · 22d ago 🔬 Science China's Tianwen-2 Probe Reaches Earth's Quasi-Moon Asteroid Kamo'oalewa TVN24 · 22d ago 🔬 Science China plans to slam a spacecraft into an asteroid at Mach 26 Gizmodo · 6d ago