China’s Mars mission, Tianwen-1 (“Question to Heaven”), successfully entered Mars orbit. Thus, China became the sixth country in the world to send its probe to the Red Planet.
About this informs BBC.
On Wednesday, February 10, at approximately 15:00 Kyiv time, the spacecraft entered the orbit of Mars.
The Chinese interplanetary mission Tianwen-1 launched on July 23, 2020 from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site by one of the most powerful Chinese rockets ㅡ Long March 5.
The Tianwen-1 mission consists of an orbital module, a launcher and the rover itself. Landing of the rover on the surface of the Red Planet is planned for around April 23.
The purpose of the mission is to study the underground conditions of the planet and try to find signs of life there. The Tianmen-1 probe has a camera and instruments to help analyze local rocks and find ice. However, exploring the surface of Mars is only one part of the Chinese mission.
Also, a spacecraft that will study Mars remotely is to go into the orbit of the Red Planet.
This is not China’s first attempt to explore Mars. In 2011, together with Russia, China launched the Yinhuo-1 satellite, but then it malfunctioned and fell into the Pacific Ocean.
