Tianwen 2 probe makes steady progress

China's Tianwen 2 asteroid sampling mission was proceeding well as of Friday morning, with the robotic probe already over 3 million kilometers away from Earth, according to the China National Space Administration.

The administration said in a brief news release on Friday afternoon that the Tianwen 2 spacecraft has been traveling in a transfer trajectory toward its destination, an asteroid called 2016 HO3, for more than eight days, and has been in a good condition.

The administration also published a picture taken by the spacecraft of its flexible circular solar arrays, which are designed to meet the power demand of the decadelong expedition.