China sets launch of asteroid probe Tianwen-2 for late May, state media reports
BEIJING (Reuters) -China is preparing to launch near-Earth asteroid probe Tianwen-2 at the end of May, state-run CCTV reported on Sunday, in the country's first mission to collect samples from interplanetary space.
Tianwen-2 was transported to the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre's launch area on May 14 and will take off after passing inspections, the report said.
The craft will use a mechanical arm to scoop up dust samples from the surface of 2016 HO3, a small 100-m (328-ft) asteroid that circles Earth like a "quasi-satellite". It will also explore 311P, a comet.
Other nations including the U.S. and Japan have successfully landed on asteroids.
A space race between China and the U.S. has led to the launch of new exploration plans in recent years.
In 2024, China became the first nation to bring back samples from the moon's far side with its Chang'e-6 lunar probe.
Around 2028, China's Tianwen-3 mission will attempt to bring back samples from Mars.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Massive Asteroid Could Hit the Moon, Here's How It Would Impact Earth
There's the good (Earth is no longer at risk of a direct hit from an asteroid dubbed 2024 YR4); the bad (shrapnel could cause extensive damage to orbiting satellites); and the ugly (odds of the asteroid hitting the moon have now increased). A Cornel University study submitted to the American Astronomy Society Journals concludes that, while Earth is no longer in danger of a direct asteroid hit, odds of the asteroid hitting the moon have increased -- from 3.8 percent to 4.3 percent. If those odds play out, NewScientist reports that a direct impact could "shower Earth with a cloud of satellite-destroying shrapnel." The study concluded that, if the asteroid hits the moon, the orbiting satellites could suffer decades worth of damage in a matter of just a few days. Dr. Paul Wiegert, a professor of astronomy at the University of Western Ontario who spearheaded the study, told NewScientist that the study concluded the asteroid could hit the moon at a whopping 29,000 miles per hour. The impact would then create a blast crater just over a half-mile wide, which would make it the largest lunar impact in the last 5,000 years. YR4, an asteroid that's the size of a building, was first discovered in December 2024. Astronomers initially predicted the asteroid would hit Earth on Dec. 23, 2032, and it would have enough power decimate an entire city. But astronomers now say that that science is telling them the asteroid will most likely miss Earth. But our planet is not exactly out of the woods. Astronomers say that, if the asteroid hits the moon, the planet's gravity would siphon upwards of 10 percent of the debris back down to Earth. 'Intuitively, the Earth is actually quite a small target when seen from the moon, and so your intuition is that not very much material would actually hit the Earth," the astronomy professor Wiegert told NewScientist, "but it turns out that the Earth's gravity can focus that material under certain conditions." Perhaps a problem to worry about seven years from now. Massive Asteroid Could Hit the Moon, Here's How It Would Impact Earth first appeared on Men's Journal on Jun 20, 2025
Fox News
7 hours ago
- Fox News
Mysterious 'dragon man' skull found in the 1930s finally identified
A mysterious human skull found in the 1930s has been identified as an existing species after once being thought to be a new species all together, according to researchers. The studies — posted in the journals Cell and Science — have identified the 146,000-year-old skull known as "dragon man" has been categorized as a Denisovan. The researchers revealed that the Denisovans were discovered by their genomes and proteins to identify them. However, the reason it took so long to identify was that the attempts to extract DNA from a tooth failed. Researchers also tried extracting DNA from the Harbin cranium as well, which also failed. When those methods failed, researchers turned to using dental calculus, which uses calcified dental plaque. The calcified dental plaque could hold and protect DNA due to its dense crystalline structure that resists degradation in various environments. Researchers used bleach on the dental plaque in order to eliminate any possible modern-day DNA. Once extracted, researchers began to compare the genetic material discovered to previous samples. The researchers found that the "dragon man" was not a new species but was a Denisovan and the very first intact specimen to date. According to the researchers, Denisovans coexisted with modern-day humans and are closely related to Neanderthals. The "dragon man" was discovered in mysterious circumstances when a Chinese laborer working on a bridge over the Songhua River found it. The man kept the Harbin cranium well hidden as he was instructed to hide it from the Japanese army. The skull was donated shortly before his death in 2018, after which his family relocated the skull and gave it to the Geoscience Museum, Hebei GEO University professor Qiang Ji. While there are limitations to this study, the researchers said there is still so much to learn moving forward. It was called "dragon man" because it was found in the Heilongjiang province of China, which translates to Black Dragon River. Fox News Digital's Julia Musto contributed to this story.
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
These may be the 3 most effective non-drug ways to treat knee arthritis
A knee brace appears to be one of the more effective ways to treat the pain - as well as improve function and stiffness - from osteoarthritis, the common degenerative process where the cartilage cushioning the joint deteriorates over time. Researchers in China ranked the relative effectiveness of a dozen treatments, ranging from laser and ultrasound therapy to wedged insoles and kinesiology tape, studied in 139 randomized controlled trials. Subscribe to The Post Most newsletter for the most important and interesting stories from The Washington Post. Based on the results from 9,644 participants, the simple knee brace ranked highest in effectiveness to alleviate symptoms of arthritis, the researchers concluded. However, 'the challenge,' said Prakash Jayabalan, the director of musculoskeletal research at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Chicago, 'is getting patients to actually wear knee braces.' Jayabalan and other clinicians who weren't involved in the study said knee braces can provide certain people immediate relief by supporting the load on the joint. But, some patients find braces uncomfortable to wear. Hydrotherapy and exercises such as weightlifting and yoga placed second and third in the meta-analysis ranking. Hydrotherapy, also known as water exercises or aquatherapy, is a treatment approach designed to improve symptoms. And experts said staying active and maintaining a healthy weight are the most effective ways to relieve symptoms of knee osteoarthritis. 'Both of those can improve symptoms and slow the progression of arthritis,' said Morgan Jones, a sports medicine orthopedic surgeon at Mass General Brigham. The peer-reviewed study published in PLOS One on Wednesday. It was led by Yuan Luo, a researcher in the department of rehabilitation at the First People's Hospital of Neijiang, China, who did not respond to questions by the time of publication. - - - What causes knee osteoarthritis? When cartilage in the knee breaks down, the joint is left with 'bone on bone motion,' Jayabalan said. Cartilage can't repair itself like other tissues in the body and, oftentimes, people don't know they've lost the cartilage in their knee until it's gone, he said. There are two common risk factors for knee arthritis - a previous knee injury such as an ACL tear and unhealthy weight gain, said Steve Messier, the director of the J.B. Snow Biomechanics Laboratory at Wake Forest University. Every pound of additional body weight amounts to four pounds of stress on the knees when a person is walking, Messier said. Once someone has arthritis in their knee, they need to make broad lifestyle changes with regular exercise to manage the pain, he said. 'It really doesn't matter what type of exercise you do, just so you're being active,' Messier said. 'They all will reduce pain.' Other clinicians agree staying active is one of the best ways to relieve knee arthritis pain. It's the first recommendation in guidelines published in 2019 from the Osteoarthritis Research Society International. Around 33 million U.S. adults have osteoarthritis, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. People commonly take NSAIDs such as ibuprofen to relieve the symptoms. But, these pain-relievers can damage the lining of your gut. Jayabalan said he recommends people use NSAIDs for no more than 10 days when they're experiencing 'debilitating pain' that is impacting their function. 'You should not be taking these every day,' he said. Knee replacements have long been the gold standard for damaged joints, but it can take up to a year for some people to fully recover from surgery. Emerging alternatives target the nerves to stop the knee pain and block blood flow to reduce inflammation. 'Two people can have the same amount of structural damage in their knee and have totally different pain profiles,' said Jones, also an assistant professor of orthopedic surgery at Harvard Medical School. 'The decision for knee replacement ends up being really individualized, and the focus is on the person's symptoms.' - - - What did the study find? The knee brace ranked best on various scores of pain, stiffness and function, and had the 'highest probability of being the best technique,' the researchers wrote. Jones said a knee brace can be 'very effective' in people who have arthritis in certain compartments of the knee because the brace can shift the load to another part of the joint. 'But, if somebody has arthritis throughout their knee, an unloader brace is not as likely to be helpful,' he said. 'They don't have a more-normal area to off-load the force to.' The researchers compared a dozen interventions: low-level laser therapy, high-intensity laser therapy, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, interferential current, short wave diathermy, ultrasound, lateral wedged insole, knee brace, exercise, hydrotherapy, kinesio taping and extracorporeal shock wave therapy. Hydrotherapy ranked second in some scores. Water buoyancy takes pressure off the knee joints and helps improve range of motion for some people, Jayabalan said. Ultrasound pulse therapy to treat knee arthritis 'remains contentious' and performed the worst across multiple scores, the researchers wrote. And, they concluded that wedged insoles, which attempt to shift the load on the knee by lifting one side of the foot, did not 'outperform neutral devices in pain reduction.' Insoles used to be a popular therapy for knee osteoarthritis but 'multiple studies' have shown they don't help, Jones said. - - - The study's limitations Many of the studies in the meta-analysis are short, six to 12 weeks, Messier said. Therefore, the results support only short-term pain relief from these treatments. 'It may relieve pain for a little while, but it's not going to change pain in the long run,' Messier said. 'The most effective thing they have here is exercise.' Jayabalan said none of the studies are looking at whether the treatments led to mechanistic improvements in the knee - 'they were not regrowing cartilage, or something like that.' Instead, the studies recorded clinical observations that these treatments may provide a potential benefit. And, many of the randomized controlled trials were conducted on small groups of participants, Jones said. 'There's a lot of variability in the studies and how long they follow their patients,' he said. Related Content 3-pound puppy left in trash is rescued, now thriving How to meet street cats around the world 'Jaws' made people fear sharks. 50 years later, can it help save them?
