May 28 (UPI) -- China Wednesday launched its Tianwen-2 space mission to collect asteroid samples and conduct a main-belt comet study. A LongMarch 3B rocket lifted off from Xichang Satellite Launch Center.
The Long March 3B Y110 rocket lifted off toward the near-Earth asteroid 469219 Kamo'oalewa and is expected to take a year to reach the asteroid.
Asteroid samples are scheduled to return to Earth by 2027 as the mission heads for a rendezvous with the 311P/Pantstarrs comet around 2035.
"All Chinese planetary scientists are now finger-crossed for this historic mission," said University of Hong Kong lunar geologist Yuqi Qian in a statement.
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