China has successfully launched its first independent mission on a Long March-5 rocket from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site on the coast of southern China’s island province of Hainan, sending a rover to Mars.
What We Know:
- The probe, Tianwen-1, gets its name from an ancient Chinese poem and means, appropriately enough, “questions to heaven.” The probe is expected to reach Mars in February 2021 and will attempt to deploy an exploratory rover, exploring the planet for 90 days.
- China attempted to launch a mission to another planet in 2011, relying on a Russain rocket. That mission failed to escape Earth’s orbit. This time China did not announce the launch date or time in advance but instead warned the mariners of an impending flight. China went solo for the launch but launched an orbiter and rover on the same mission to fast- track. This Mars launching season, which occurs every 26 months when Earth and Mars are at their closest, is particularly busy.
- Liu Tongjie, the spokesman for the mission, said, “When arriving in the vicinity of Mars, it is very critical to decelerate. If the deceleration process is not right, or if flight precision is not sufficient, the probe would not be captured by Mars,” he said, referring to gravity on Mars taking the craft down to the surface.” Liu also said the new probe would orbit Mars for two and a half months, looking to enter its atmosphere and make a soft landing.
- China’s launch marks the second flight to Mars this week after a United Arab Emirates orbiter took flight from Japan on Monday. The U.S. is also aiming to launch Perseverance, said to be the most sophisticated Mars rover ever made, from Cape Canaveral, Florida, next week.
- The Long March 5 launched from Wenchang Satellite Launch Center at 12:41 a.m, 12:41 p.m local time. “At no other time in our history have we seen anything like what is unfolding with these three unique missions to Mars. Each of them is a science and engineering marvel,” the Space Foundation’s chief executive officer Thomas Zelibor.
The United States is the only country to successfully land a spacecraft on Martian soil, doing it eight times since 1976. A successful Mars exploration would put China in a good position regarding interplanetary exploration.
