China is preparing to launch a task to collect the 2016 ho3 asteroid samples – science

The probe was transferred on Sunday to the place where the launch will be prepared at the Xichang Space Center in Sichuan ProvinceEven before the job checks prepared for Tianwen 2 mission. The Chinese Space Agency confirmed that the launch will be held before late May, without more details.

Tianwen 2 consists of the orbit and unit of re -entry and will target the HO3 2016 task, also known as 469219 Kamo’oalewa. Although the circle is around the sun, not the Earth, it is the smallest asteroid on the planet that has been identified so far.

Space Agency plan It states that the probe enters an orbit around the asteroid, where it will remain for several monthsAnd then you will approach enough to use a mechanical arm to collect surface samples. After this stage, the probe will return to the Earth’s orbit and the release of the re -entry unit, which will take samples to the surface of the planet.

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Ho3 ASTEROID 2016 was first discovered in 2016 by asteroid monitor. Researchers believe that they may contain important information about the early stages of the solar system, including aspects of its original formation and development.

China has invested strongly in the space program and Chang’e 4 fell on the hidden side of the moonThe first time this was achieved. It also became the third country, after the former Soviet Union and the United States, to reach Mars. In 2030 he wants to bring samples from Mars.

In addition, China runs its space station, Tiangong, which will work for about 10 years and can become the only tropical platform that works.

The international satellite station, an initiative led by the United States, which China prohibits due to military relations with its space program, must be opened in 2030.

(With the Portuguese)