China’s Tianwen-1 mission is now orbiting Mars ahead of landing
The Tianwen-1 mission, China’s first independent interplanetary mission, has reached orbit around Mars and is now preparing to drop its rover to the surface
www.newscientist.com
China’s Tianwen-1 mission is now orbiting Mars ahead of landing
Mars has a new visitor. The Chinese Tianwen-1 mission has entered orbit around the Red Planet, following the United Arab Emirates’ Hope orbiter by just one day and preceding the landing of NASA’s Perseverance rover by a week. This is China’s second interplanetary mission, but the first that it has attempted without any international partners.
Reaching orbit is just the first step of the Tianwen-1 mission, which launched from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in Hainan, China on 23 July last year. The spacecraft has three parts: an orbiter, a lander and a rover.
Now that the spacecraft is safely in orbit, the next step is to start the preparations for landing. Scientists have selected a landing site in Utopia Planitia, the same region where NASA’s Viking 2 lander touched down in 1976. Once Tianwen-1 is in orbit, it will take pictures of the area to make sure conditions are safe to send in the lander.
Read more: https://www.newscientist.com/articl...orbiting-mars-ahead-of-landing/#ixzz6m4d9GQVK
Enter Mars orbit is a piece of cake. Soft landing on Mars will be the difficult part. Anyway, congratulation for the successful insertion of Mars orbit.