Enterprising space endeavors set to launch

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China's Tianwen 2 probe is scheduled for launch on a Long March 3B rocket in May 2025. The ambitious asteroid sample return and comet exploration mission is a challenging one as it is planned as a combined mission to collect samples from a near-Earth asteroid, deliver the material to Earth, and then take a gravitational slingshot back into deep space to study a comet. ▲This image taken from video animation at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on June 2, 2024 shows the lander-ascender combination of Chang'e 6 probe before landing on the far side of the moon. [Photo/Xinhua] The first objective is the near-Earth asteroid 469219, a quasi-satellite of Earth. After rendezvousing with Kamo'oalewa, as it is called after Haiwaiian language, the spacecraft will carry out remote sensing to assess the asteroid for potential landing sites. It will then attempt to collect samples using two different techniques — touch-and-go and anchor-and-attach — and the return to Earth to deliver the samples ………………………………