China Wednesday launched its Tianwen-2 space mission to collect asteroid samples and conduct a main-belt comet study. A LongMarch 3B rocket lifted off from Xichang Satellite Launch Center.

Tianwen, which means "questions to heaven," is the name given to China's program of robotic Solar System exploration. Tianwen-3 has a chance to become the first mission to return pristine samples from Mars to Earth. At the same time, NASA's plans for a Mars Sample Return mission are faltering.

XICHANG, May 29 (Xinhua) -- China launched its first asteroid sample-return mission, Tianwen-2, in the early hours of Thursday, an endeavour to shed light on the formation and evolution of asteroids and the early solar system.