【#Tech24H】The China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced, China’s Tianwen-2 probe began scientific exploration after an approximately 400-day journey of about 1 billion kilometers, and has successfully arrived at a distance of 20 kilometers from the asteroid 2016HO3. According to experts, during the approach to the asteroid, the probe obtained imaging data of the asteroid. Meanwhile, the mission team used optical navigation data acquired during the approach to improve the asteroid’s ephemeris, reducing the positional error of the asteroid, previously determined solely by ground-based observations, from hundreds of kilometers to the order of kilometers. In the subsequent phase, the probe will gradually carry out more detailed scientific exploration to obtain information on the asteroid's morphology, material composition, internal structure, and other data, providing support for sampling preparations. [ By Zhang Liyan | Tang Ruohan ]