China's Tianwen-2 mission is en route to the Kamo'oalewa asteroid, previously thought to be of lunar origin. However, a recent study in *Nature Communications* challenges this assumption. Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, led by Yang Li, analyzed the asteroid's reflected light and discovered a spectral feature more typical of LL chondrite meteorites. To further investigate, they simulated space weathering effects on LL chondrite powder, finding that it could match Kamo'oalewa's red appearance. This suggests that the asteroid's surface material could develop a red hue similar to lunar soil without actually being lunar in origin. The team posits that Kamo'oalewa may have originated from the Flora family of asteroids, with a surface composition resembling that of Itokawa, another asteroid previously sampled by Japan. While the study points to a non-lunar origin, the researchers remain open to the possibility of a lunar connection.