China launches landmark mission to retrieve pristine asteroid samples

China successfully launched Tianwen-2, marking a significant milestone in its quest to collect pristine asteroid samples. This mission aims to shed light on the formation and evolution of asteroids, including potential links to Earth’s origins, by studying near-Earth asteroid 469219 Kamoʻoalewa and exploring main-belt comet 311P. China is now the third country after Japan and the U.S. to carry out such an asteroid sampling mission, underscoring its growing ambition in interplanetary exploration.