Tag: 2016 HO3

Does the football-field-sized Kamo'oalewa hold a shocking secret about the moon?

China: Tianwen-2 Reaches Within 20-Kilometres & Photographs Quasi-Moon “Kamo’oalewa”! (9.7.2026)

This is also what makes the above photograph truly valuable and remarkable. It transformed a celestial body, previously only present in orbital calculations and distant (small) telescopic spots, for the first time into an object with a real shape, scale, and surface.

The Earth did not suddenly have a “new” real moon – but it does have a curious small rock beside it that has accompanied it in a tracking dance for nearly a century, and may continue to accompany the Earth for many more centuries to come.

Sometimes, human understanding creates all kinds of mysteries about the universe. This may not be a second moon – but it could be a long-lost fragment of the actual moon left to accompany the Earth – albeit at a distance.

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Images of Earth and the moon captured by the Tianwen 2 robotic probe are released on Tuesday by the China National Space Administration.

China: Tianwen 2 Sends Back Images of Earth & Moon! (2.7.2025)

The samples will be distributed among scientists, who will examine their physical properties, chemical and mineralogical content and isotopic composition, contributing to studies on the formation and evolution of asteroids and the early solar system.

Delivering the samples to Earth will not be the end of the mission. The Tianwen 2 spacecraft will then enter the second phase of its journey, flying toward a main-belt comet called 311P to conduct a remote-sensing survey and transmit the data back to Earth for scientific research, according to the CNSA.

The whole mission is expected to yield ground-breaking discoveries and expand the understanding of Earth and small celestial bodies inside the solar system, scientists said.

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Carrying the Tianwen 2 robotic probe, a Long March 3B rocket blasted off at 1:31 am at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the middle of mountains in Sichuan province.

China: First “Asteroid Sampling” [Tianwen II (天问二) “Divine-Sky Exploration II”] Mission Launched! (29.5.2025)

The administration said that mission planners aim to accomplish two major engineering goals through the Tianwen 2 project. The first is to develop and demonstrate key technologies needed for gathering sample from weak-gravity celestial bodies, conducting high-precision autonomous navigation and control, and other crucial manoeuvres. The second is to obtain data and samples to facilitate studies on the origins and evolution of asteroids.

Scientifically, planners hope the spacecraft could measure multiple physical parameters of both 2016 HO3 and 311P, covering their size and shape, orbital traits, rotation patterns, and thermal radiation characteristics, allowing for research on their orbital dynamics. Researchers will also analyse their external features, material compositions, internal structures, and potential ejecta.

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