{"id":464,"date":"2020-07-24T05:00:14","date_gmt":"2020-07-24T05:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businessner.com\/?p=464"},"modified":"2020-07-31T03:54:53","modified_gmt":"2020-07-31T03:54:53","slug":"chinas-ambitious-tianwen-1-probe-successfully-begins-mars-mission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businessner.com\/chinas-ambitious-tianwen-1-probe-successfully-begins-mars-mission\/","title":{"rendered":"China\u2019s ambitious Tianwen-1 probe successfully begins Mars mission"},"content":{"rendered":"

China began its first interplanetary mission to Mars as a Long March-5 rocket, its largest launch vehicle carrying its Tianwen-1 probe, successfully lifts off Thursday, state-run Xinhua News Agency reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Chinese launch rocket blasted off from the country\u2019s Wenchang Spacecraft Launchpad in the southern island province of Hainan at 12:41 p.m. (Beijing Time) on July 23.<\/p>\n

The Tianwen-1 Mars mission, if everything goes as planned, will take a seven-month journey before reaching the red planet in February 2021.<\/p>\n

China\u2019s first mission is named Tianwen-1 or \u2018Questions to Heaven\u2019 which comes from a poem written by Chinese poet Qu Yuan.<\/p>\n

According to the China National Space Administration<\/a>, the Tianwen-1 probe’s name symbolizes China\u2019s perseverance in pursuing truth and science and exploring nature and the universe.<\/p>\n

Tianwen-1 spacecraft’s mission details<\/h2>\n

The Tianwen-1 probe is composed of an orbiter, a lander, and a rover.<\/p>\n

The spacecraft will cruise for several months until it reaches a Mars orbit position before spending at least two to three months surveying possible landing sites with the use of installed high-resolution cameras in preparation for a potential difficult landing.<\/p>\n

The most crucial part of the mission, which will likely determine its initial success, is to achieve a soft landing which will only take seven to eight minutes.<\/p>\n

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The Tianwen-1 Mars rover weighs 240 kgs. and carries various cameras and specialized components. Source: Xinhua<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If everything goes as planned, the Chinese Mars mission rover, which is about the size of a tiny car, will land as scheduled in May 2021 in a flat portion in the Utopia Planitia region.<\/p>\n

The orbiter, with a design life of one Martian year or 687 Earth days, will circle the planet to continue gathering data from above and relay communications for the rover.<\/p>\n

The six-wheeled Chinese Mars rover, with an expected lifespan of at least 90 days, will explore the Martian terrain in search of evidence for water and ice.<\/p>\n

Other tasks for the Mars mission rover and orbiter, according to the CNSA, include:<\/p>\n