Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Image credit: CNSA via Xinhua

China’ first asteroid sample-return mission, Tianwen-2, was sent into space on May 29.

The China National Space Administration (CNSA) has released an in-flight image, taken by a camera affixed to the probe’s robotic arm. Also captured in the image is the craft’s white sample return capsule.

This en-route mission is headed for an over decade-long expedition: collecting samples from near-Earth asteroid 2016HO3 and exploring the main-belt comet 311P.

CNSA reports that the Tianwen-2 probe is roughly 43 million kilometers from Earth and 45 million kilometers from the asteroid 2016HO3.