[ad_1]
China is expanding its space exploration projects far beyond the moon.
The nation whose Ship Chang & # 39; e 4 launched the first soft landing on the other lunar side last January and aims to launch a bold mission in three years from now, exploring both an asteroid and a comet, according to the agency's Xinhua Chinese press.
The current plan, which is still under discussion, is calling for a probe to visit and collect samples of the small 2016 geo-terrestrial asteroid HO3 (also known as Kamo & oalewa).
Related: Chang & e 4 in pictures: China at the other end of the moon
"Then, the probe will return near the Earth and a return capsule will be released to bring the samples back to Earth", Xinhua reported today (April 18), quoting an official of the National Space Administration of China. "After that, the spacecraft will continue its journey.With the help of the gravity of the Earth and Mars, it will eventually reach the main asteroid belt and orbit the Comet 133P to explore it. . "
Comet 133P / Elst-Pizarro is not your icy wanderer. It is rather a strange hybrid beast known as the "comet of the main belt" – an asteroid belt body that has already exhibited an activity similar to that of a monster. a comet. Indeed, 133P also has an asteroid designation: 7968 Elst-Pizarro.
The object can actually be an "active asteroid", a cosmic class comprising only a handful of known members. A recent addition to this list is the space rock near the Earth, Bennu, which NASA's OSIRIS-REx probe has been exploring closely since the end of last year. OSIRIS-REx observed many ejections of dust particles Bennu (1,500 feet wide), whose cause remains a mystery.
The planned Chinese mission will probably last about 10 years, Xinhua reported. Meanwhile, the spacecraft will gather various data that will help scientists better understand the composition, structure, orbit, rotation, shape and size of the two objects, among other characteristics.
China is not the only one to want to return samples of an asteroid. OSIRIS-REx will return pieces of Bennu to Earth in September 2023, if all goes according to plan. And the Japanese mission Hayabusa2 has pieces already hung Ryugu, an asteroid 3000 feet wide (900 m). This material is expected to land on our planet by the end of 2020. (The original Hayabusa mission reported tiny pieces of the stony asteroid Itokawa home in 2010).
China also intends to seize lunar rocks as part of its ambitious and continuing Moon Chang's agenda. The return mission of samples Chang & # 39; e 5 will be launched to the nearest neighbor of the Earth in December, if all goes as planned.
Mike Wall's book on the search for extraterrestrial life, "Over there"(Grand Central Publishing, 2018, illustrated by Karl Tate), is out now. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.
[ad_2]
Source link