Russian media attention: China's Tianwen-2 has sent back its first photo of space!
On June 7, multiple Russian media outlets such as "All Over the World" published articles.
The Chinese automatic planetary interstellar station Tianwen-2 transmitted its first image back to Earth after successfully launching at the end of May.
The China National Space Administration confirmed the normal operation of the device and released a photo showing the circular solar panels.
According to a report from the China National Security Bureau on the morning of June 6, the spacecraft took off from Earth and is now over three million kilometers away from it.
The main mission of this ambitious task is to study the near-Earth asteroid Kamoaleva (also known as 2016 HO3).
This celestial body is a quasi-satellite of Earth, with a diameter ranging from 40 to 100 meters. China's probe should arrive at this asteroid in mid-2026 and spend about nine months studying its composition and structure.
After completing the mission in April 2027, Tianwen-2 will return to Earth and release a sample capsule in November of the same year.
However, Tianwen-2 is also curious about the 311P/PANSTARRS comet, which is particularly interesting because it displays characteristics of both comets and asteroids, with six unique tails. Tianwen-2 decided to take a look around, and it is expected to arrive approximately in early 2035.
Source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1834225379005443/
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