The Tianwen-2 mission by China targets asteroid 2016 HO3 to gather samples, with plans for future missions to Mars and Jupiter, enhancing space exploration efforts.

China has revealed the first image from its Tianwen 2 asteroid sample return mission, which is now more than 3 million kilometers (1.9 million miles) from Earth.

In fact, Tianwen 2 isn't China's first sample-return mission; the nation has pulled off two already. Chang'e 5 hauled material from the moon's nearside to Earth in December 2020, and Chang'e 6 ...

Tianwen 2 is China's second planetary exploration mission, following on from the Tianwen 1 Mars orbiter and rover, which launched in 2020. Tianwen 3 will be a Mars sample return mission, launching in ...

If Tianwen-2 pulls this off, China will become the third nation — after Japan and the United States — to retrieve pristine material from an asteroid.

In a major milestone for China’s space exploration program, the Tianwen 2 spacecraft has transmitted its first photo from space, marking a significant moment in its mission to study the enigmatic ...

China Wednesday launched its Tianwen-2 space mission to collect asteroid samples and conduct a main-belt comet study. A ...

China’s Tianwen-2 mission has launched to explore an asteroid that may be a piece of the moon, as well as an active asteroid that acts like a comet.

The Tianwen-2 probe has sent a self-portrait as it heads toward one of the most enigmatic objects in our space neighborhood: ...

But Tianwen-2 will also test a method called “anchor-and-attach,” using four robotic arms with drills at their tips to affix itself to the asteroid’s surface.

Tianwen-2 lifted off on a Long March 3B rocket at 1:31 p.m. Eastern (1731 UTC) from Xichang Satellite Launch Center, southwest China, climbing into the night sky above the spaceport.

Tianwen 2 will not be China's first deep space encounter with an asteroid. The country's Chang'e 2 lunar orbiter made a flyby of the asteroid Toutatis in 2012 as part of an extended mission after ...