The Chinese Tianwen-1 spacecraft successfully rolled into orbit Mars on Wednesday morning, the China National Space Administration confirmed. With the arrival of sin, China becomes the sixth power to reach the planet. It is also the second country this month to celebrate its first Mars mission, a day after the United Arab Emirates’ Hope Orbit entered Mars orbit on Tuesday morning.
Tianwen-1, which translates to ‘questions to heaven’ or ‘interrogate heaven’, is a five-ton bundle of a rover, lander and orbit launched from Wenchang in southern China in July last year. . China was one of three countries that used a narrow, approximately two-month-long window to launch spacecraft to Mars, as it was close to Earth in its orbits around the sun – an alignment that occurs only once every two years. .
Chinese state media confirmed on Wednesday morning that Tianwen-1 has completed a successful brake maneuver to facilitate the orbit of Mars after traveling a total of 295 million miles. Tianwen-1’s track control engine ignited at 06:52 ET and fired for 15 minutes to slow down the cruising speed for a gradual insertion of the track.
‘Exploring the vast universe is the universal dream of all mankind. We will sincerely cooperate and go hand in hand with countries around the world to further humanity’s exploration of space, “Zhang Kejian, director of the China National Space Administration, said in a statement on Wednesday.
The spacecraft has settled into an orbit that will bring it within 248 miles of the Martian surface, where it will spend a few months on the landing site in the Utopia Planitia region. In May, the lander and rover will detach from the spacecraft and make a daring attempt to land in Utopia Planitia, where a large deposit of water ice lies below the earth’s surface. If successful, China will become the second country, after the US, to land and operate a rover on the Martian surface.
The landing attempt of Tianwen-1 was originally planned for April, but the China National Space Administration indicated that it was changed to May or June. The landing site is about 1,147 miles – about the ride from Miami to New York – from the target of NASA’s Perseverance Rover, which will attempt to land on February 18.
With the Tianwen-1 rover on Mars and an orbit scanning from above, China is tracking the distribution of ice in the groundwater to gain a better understanding of the planet’s geological structure. The lander is essentially a delivery platform that provides a ramp for the rover to roll off the Mars terrain and drive through, where it will also analyze the water ice as a potential source for long-term human missions on Mars, according to SpaceNews.
China’s debut trip to Mars comes as Beijing expands its role in space exploration. While Tianwen-1 flew to Mars, the country went to the moon and back with its whirlwind Chang’e 5 monster return mission, the fifth mission in China’s Lunar reconnaissance program, and its first mission to bring lunar filth back to the moon. earth.
Tianwen-1’s successful jump into orbit around Mars has received applause from NASA and the European Space Agency. Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA’s top scientific officer, congratulations China and said: “there is much to discover about the mysteries of Mars and we look forward to your contributions!”