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China's Chang'E 2 Succeeds In Thrilling Asteroid Flyby

Posted by samzenpus on from the getting-a-good-look dept.

Zothecula writes "China has now joined the very select group of countries to have succeeded in carrying out an interplanetary probe mission. According to reports from China's official news agency Xinhua, the Chang'E 2 probe passed a mere 3.2 km (2 miles) from the near-Earth asteroid Toutatis at 8:30:09 GMT on December 13, making it the closest asteroid flyby to date ... and resulting in some remarkable photographs."

3 of 88 comments (clear)

  1. Closest? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    How can 3.2km be the closest asteroid flyby when Hayabusa returned a sample from an asteroid?
    http://www.space.com/9538-asteroid-dust-successfully-returned-japanese-space-probe.html
    I guess I'll have to RTFA...

  2. How is this "the closest asteroid flyby to date"? by runeghost · · Score: 4, Informative

    Chang'E's flyby of 4179 Toutatis is certainly an impressive feat. But, given that Hayabusa took samples while several meters above the surface of 25143 Itokawa, and that NEAR-Shoemaker actually landed on 433 Eros, I don't see how the term "closest" (which the article uses as well as the summary) can apply. Unless they mean "the asteroid flyby mission that took place nearest to Earth," which, while interesting, doesn't seem to be how this is being presented.

  3. Re:All hail our new Chinese overlords by medcalf · · Score: 4, Informative

    South Korea in the 1970s was an oppressive capitalist dictatorship (specifically, a right-wing, military one).

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    -- Two men say they're Jesus. One of them must be wrong. - Dire Straits