China starts mission; will retrieve asteroid samples

China launched its Tianwen-2 spacecraft Wednesday, initiating its first mission to retrieve asteroid samples, potentially making it the third nation to achieve this. The Long March 3B rocket launched from Xichang Satellite Launch Center, carrying the robotic probe towards the near-Earth asteroid 469219 Kamo?oalewa, approximately 10 million miles away. The mission aims to return samples to Earth by 2027. This mission continues China's rapid expansion in space exploration, following successes like lunar landings and its own space station, with plans for human lunar missions by 2030.