The Chinese government has approved a plan to send a robotic spacecraft to collect samples from an asteroid, according to the China National Space Administration's Lunar Exploration and Space Programme Centre.
The Tianwen 2 mission is expected to lift off around 2025 and begin a path towards asteroid 2016 HO3, where it would land and collect samples.
The small asteroid - said to be no larger than 100 metres long - was first spotted by the Pan-STARRS 1 asteroid survey telescope in Hawaii in April 2016. It was then described as a 'quasi-satellite' to Earth, as it does maintain a very distant but constant orbit around the Blue Planet.
According to the centre, the mission will launch a probe consisting of two parts - an orbiter and a re-entry module - toward 2016 HO3. After reaching the asteroid, the probe will use a mechanical arm to scoop dust from its surface.
...