Tianwen-1, China’s mission to Mars, has entered orbit

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Tianwen-1, whose name means “search for celestial truth,” consists of an orbiter, a lander and a six-wheeled rover carrying scientific instruments, according to the National Space Administration of China (CNSA).

The CNSA said it will gather important information about the geological structure, atmosphere, environment and soil of Mars, and look for any signs of water. The spacecraft is expected to land on the planet’s surface in May or June.

Tianwen-1 makes China the sixth country in history to reach Mars.

Tianwen-1 was launched last July, along with two other international missions to Mars: NASA’s Perseverance rover and the UAE’s Hope Probe.

All three missions were launched at the same time due to an alignment between Mars and Earth on the same side of the sun, allowing for a more efficient trip to the red planet.

NASA’s Perseverance rover is expected to land on Mars on February 18th.

The Chinese Tianwen-1 returns its first image of Mars
So far, the United States and the former Soviet Union are the only two countries to have landed a spacecraft. on the surface of Mars. But the European Space Agency and India have previously sent spacecraft into orbit around the planet, and on Tuesday the UAE joined its ranks, with its Hope spacecraft successfully entering the orbit. orbit.

With Tianwen-1, China is the first nation to attempt to send an orbiter and a rover on its first Mars mission home. According to the scientific team behind the mission, the spacecraft will “orbit, land and release a rover throughout the first attempt and coordinate observations with an orbiter.”

By contrast, NASA sent several orbiters to Mars before attempting to land, as removing the landing is a much more difficult task.

The Chinese rover is expected to stay for three months, hoping it can gather important information about the planet.

China’s space ambitions

Wednesday’s news marks the latest success of China’s ambitious space sector, which has rapidly transformed in recent decades.

Although Chinese authorities and state media have hailed Tianwen-1 as the country’s first mission to Mars, this is not entirely true.

China’s first attempt to reach Mars was actually in 2011 with the Yinghuo-1 spacecraft, which was supposed to orbit the red planet and study its environmental structure. It was launched from Kazakhstan along with the Russian Phobos-Grunt mission in November of that year.
But the mission failed, with a malfunction that ran aground the probe into Earth orbit shortly after launch. In 2012, the probe re-entered Earth atmosphere and fell back to Earth, landing in the Pacific Ocean.
Mars is the latest scene of rivalry between the United States and China, both countries have launched probes this month

It was a disappointing blow to the country’s young space program, which has historically lagged behind other countries. Beijing only launched its first manned space flight in 2003, more than 40 years after NASA’s achievement.

But all that has changed in recent years.

Under President Xi Jinping, who took office in 2013, China has invested billions of dollars in its space program, launched space and satellite laboratories, and landed three unmanned spacecraft on the Moon.

The government has identified space as a national research priority, especially deep space exploration and spacecraft in orbit. Increasingly, Chinese private companies are also investing in space research and technology.

In addition to the Tianwen-1 Mars mission, Beijing also plans to launch a permanent space station in 2022 and is studying sending astronauts to the moon, possibly in the 2030s.

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