China's Tianwen-2 Asteroid Sample-Return Spacecraft Captures Earth Selfie
The China National Space Administration (CNSA) on October 1, 2025, unveiled a remarkable image of the Tianwen-2 probe alongside Earth, captured during its deep-space journey.
The newly released image, acquired by a monitoring camera mounted on the probe's robotic arm, showcases China's five-starred red flag and the white return capsule against the backdrop of a distant, blue Earth.
According to CNSA, the Tianwen-2 probe is currently approximately 43 million kilometers from Earth and 45 million kilometers from the asteroid 2016HO3.
The probe has successfully completed a series of in-orbit tests, including the deployment of sampling devices and self-checks of electronic devices. All systems are reported to be functioning normally, while onboard instruments have begun collecting valuable scientific data on the space environment, according to the CNSA.
China launched its first asteroid sample-return mission, Tianwen-2, on May 29—an endeavour to shed light on the formation and evolution of asteroids and the early solar system.
The mission aims to achieve multiple goals over a decade-long expedition: collecting samples from near-Earth asteroid 2016HO3 and exploring the main-belt comet 311P, which is farther from Earth than Mars.
Tianwen-2 will collect pristine samples from the near-Earth asteroid, 2016HO3 and return them to Earth. Next, it will go explore the main-belt comet 311P—more distant than Mars.
The probe is expected to return asteroid samples to Earth in 2027 with the entire mission to last a decade.
If successful, China will become only the third country in the world to carry out such a feat after Japan and the United States.
The Tianwen-2 mission is the latest example of China's space achievements in recent years. These include returning samples from the near and far sides of the Moon, launching a successful mission to probe Mars, operating its own national space station in orbit, and moving ahead in its plan to send humans to the lunar surface by 2030.
Duration: 55 seconds
Release Date: Oct. 1, 2025
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