China's Tianwen-2 Reaches 40-100-Meter Quasi-Moon Kamoʻoalewa for Sample Return
Updated
Updated · spacedaily.com · Jul 2
China's Tianwen-2 Reaches 40-100-Meter Quasi-Moon Kamoʻoalewa for Sample Return
3 articles · Updated · spacedaily.com · Jul 2
Summary
Tianwen-2 reached Kamoʻoalewa around June 7 after a 13-month cruise and is now closing from a few thousand kilometers to within a few tens of kilometers for mapping.
The survey phase will use cameras, laser ranging and radar before a sampling attempt aimed at returning at least a few hundred grams from the fast-spinning object.
A 28-minute rotation and uncertain surface—solid rock or loose rubble—make collection difficult, so the spacecraft carries touch-and-go, anchor-and-attach and robotic-arm sampling options.
Laboratory analysis of the sample could settle whether Kamoʻoalewa is lunar ejecta or an ordinary asteroid, a debate fueled by 2021 spectral data that matched weathered Moon rock.
If successful, the mission would deliver China's first asteroid sample return in 2027 and only the fourth such return worldwide.
As China's probe nears Earth's 'mini-moon,' will the sample it collects finally solve the mystery of its origin?
How will China's spacecraft grab a piece of an asteroid spinning faster than any previously visited body?
Tianwen-2’s Historic Mission to Kamoʻoalewa: Engineering, Science, and the Global Race to Return Asteroid Samples by 2027
Overview
As of June 30, 2026, the Tianwen-2 spacecraft is closely investigating the near-Earth asteroid Kamoʻoalewa after arriving earlier that month. The mission is gradually descending from 20 kilometers to just 300 meters above the asteroid’s surface, using a suite of 11 advanced science payloads—including Italy’s DIANAdust analyzer—to gather detailed data before attempting a historic sample collection. These careful preparations are crucial for ensuring the success of the upcoming landing and sample return, which could reveal whether Kamoʻoalewa is a fragment of the Moon or a relic from the early Solar System.