SMRTR Science & EngineeringJul 12, 2026Wired

China’s Tianwen-2 Space Probe Has Rendezvoused With Earth’s Quasi-Moon

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China's Tianwen-2 probe completed a roughly 1-billion-kilometer, 400-day journey to reach Kamo'oalewa, Earth's most stable quasi-moon, capturing the first-ever images of it from about 20 kilometers away on July 2, 2026. The next challenge is landing on the tiny, fast-spinning 41-meter asteroid to collect samples, which would then be returned to Earth in November 2027, potentially revealing clues about the solar system's early formation.

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