Beijing, May 29 (Youth.cn) - At 13:31 on May 29, 2025, China successfully launched the Tianwen-2 asteroid probe - part of the Planetary Exploration Program - aboard a Long March 3B carrier rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. Approximately 18 minutes after liftoff, the probe entered the Earth-2016HO3 asteroid transfer orbit. The spacecraft’s solar arrays deployed normally, and all critical mechanisms unlocked smoothly, marking the mission’s complete success. This is China’s first sample-return mission to a near-Earth asteroid, which may uncover the "primordial code" of the Solar System’s origins. Photo/CFP