Riding an asteroid: China's next goal in space
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E-mail Xinhua, March 1, 2017
Origins of life?
Some scientists believe asteroid 1996 FG3 might hide the secret of life on Earth.
At present, there are two main theories: One is that life was conceived on Earth itself; and the other that life originated in space. Scientists have discovered many meteorites containing organic compounds believed to be related to the origins of life.
Many asteroids also contain water, and some scientists believe the water on Earth might have been brought by asteroids or comets.
China has already conducted a flyby observation of an asteroid named Toutatis.
In 2012, China's second lunar probe, Chang'e-2, after successfully completing its mission, rendezvoused with Toutatis at a distance of 770 meters, as the space rock, bigger than a city block, swept by Earth at a distance of about 7 million kilometers.
It was the world's first close flyby observation of Toutatis. The probe took high-resolution images that provided a number of discoveries.
Ji and his team found that the ginger-root-shaped asteroid is about 4,750 meters long and 1,950 meters wide, and studied how it rotated in space.
The research also revealed new insights into the geological features and formation of the asteroid, showing it was essentially rubble and that the impact craters on its surface could be 1.6 billion years old.
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