China’s asteroid-and-comet hunter probe unfurls a ‘solar wing’

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China’s space agency has revealed its Tianwen 2 probe has unfurled a ‘solar wing’.

The mission launched in May on a course that will take it to remote rocks – the ‘quasi moon’ 469219 Kamoʻoalewa and comet 311P.

China’s National Space Administration last Friday published its first update on the mission and reported that after eight days in orbit the craft was three million kilometers from Earth. The update also mentions deployment of a “solar wing” – a circular array of flexible solar panels. Here’s a pic of the wing which snapped by one of the probe’s cameras.

The image above is the first China has shared from the mission.

May there be many more!

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