Several countries have attempted to reach Mars, but only a few have accomplished this extraordinary feat. The Tianwen-1 probe entered the Red Planet’s orbit on Wednesday, February 10, making China officially the sixth country in history to reach Mars.
Tianwen-1 has been traveling in space for seven months–approximately 202 days. It launched on July 23, 2020, from Wenchang, China. According to the China National Space Association (CNSA), the spacecraft is made up of an orbiter, a lander, and a six-wheeled rover. An orbiter is a spacecraft that carries a notable propulsive capability to reduce the speed at the right moment and is designed to achieve orbit insertion. Tianwen-1’s orbiter was built to last one Martian year, which is equivalent to 687 Earth days. A lander is purposed with the task of descending towards and softly landing on the surface of a planet or moon. Tianwen-1 is estimated to land on Mars’ surface in May or June. A rover is intended to move across solid surfaces of a planet or other astronomical bodies. Tianwen-1’s six-wheeled rover, designed to last ninety Earth days, carries scientific instruments that will likely be used to make detailed observations of the planet after landing and will also be used to “create the first complete portrait of the Martian atmosphere.” The rover is reckoned to roam Mars’ surface for around three months.
Due to the alignment between Mars and Earth on the same side of the sun, Tianwen-1 launched around the same time as two other international missions to Mars: NASA’s Perseverance rover and the United Arab Emirates’s Hope Probe. The UAE’s Hope Probe entered Mars’ orbit on Tuesday, February 9–only a day before Tianwen-1.
Prior to the launching of Tianwen-1, China had attempted to reach Mars in 2011 with the Yinghuo-1 probe but failed. As of now, the United States and the former Soviet Union are the only two countries to successfully land a spacecraft on Mars. Will China be the third?
Sources:
- https://spacenews.com/chinas-tianwen-1-enters-orbit-around-mars/
- https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/10/asia/china-tianwen-1-mars-orbit-hnk-scli-scn/index.html
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I never heard about the Tianwen-1 before and it sounds very interesting. It wont be a suprise if China can be the third country that can get to mars.
“The rover is reckoned to roam Mars’ surface for around three months” is a very powerful line. I liked how you used alliteration with the verbs “reckoned” and “roam” — though in different tenses, equivalent in power — effectively accentuating that subtext of China’s rapidly accelerating technology. It’s also crazy how they planned it just so that the orbiter was designed to last exactly one year on Mars, or 687 days on our planet.
This article was really fascinating. I had just recently learned about the Perseverance Rover dispatched to Mars by NASA, so it’s great to hear about another space endeavor regarding Mars by China. China has been advancing rapidly in its technology field in recent times, so it’s no surprise to see that it might be among one of the first few countries to have successfully landed a spacecraft on the surface of Mars.
It’s interesting to see that countries have started to redirect resources into space exploration. With the people like Elon Musk proposing radical plans involving space exploration and living, it’s going to be an exciting to see where the future heads to. Hopefully, with advancing technology, we’ll be a space faring civilization soon.
在几年前曾经听说过火星上有曾经存在过水的痕迹，自那以后关于火星的猜想和话题就不断增长，希望新的探测器也能带来更多的发现。
I didn’t realize that China was also making space ventures to mars. I hope to see them be able to make it there with the US and Soviet Union. I find it amazing that the people working on the TIANWEN-1 were able to calculate the trajectory and orbit of the orbiter and how they were able to make a plan based on it.
Wow this is very interesting. Right now, I know that space is one of the big topics that people are questioning and testing, but I never thought that China would create something to explore space. With progress like this, I am very optimistic about what will come in the future.
Wow, very interesting article Jasmine! I didn’t know that China was also making ventures to mars! I knew the US was doing it but having other countries also participate is great! Space is the future and I knew that China would join the race. I am optimistic about our future!!!!
Huh, I never knew that China was still in the race to space. I thought that after the United States pulled so far ahead, they weren’t able to catch up. However, reading this article helped me realize that they aren’t too far behind. Maybe a major breakthrough here or there might even help them pull ahead of Russia! I’m interested to see how this race will turn out.
Tianwen-1能行驶这么远的距离已经是非常不容易的了，如果成功登陆的话一定是一件非常惊人的成就。
This was an interesting article to read. I’m surprised I’ve never heard of the Tianwen-1 before because it seems like an important accomplishment. I didn’t know that China was still part of this space race. It would be astonishing to see China be the third to successfully land a spacecraft on Mars.
This article was very interesting and a surprising one. I did not know that China was still using a lot of effort in their space program. It was interesting to read that China was also looking to expand onto mars. The fact that more countries are looking into space exploration is very promising for humanity. Keep up the good work!
Thank you for the article. I usually never hear about other country’s space missions and I usually only hear about American ones. I did not know that China has a rover on mars but its refreshing to see space accomplishments by other countries.
我认为人类能够做到这种程度已经非常的不错了，如果成功登陆的话一定是一件非常惊人的成就。
This was very interesting to read and very informative. I enjoy astronomy very much so I found this cool to read. I actually knew that China was making moves to Mars. It is interesting to see companies and countries taking more steps into space. I can’t wait for the future.
I never heard about the Tianwen. This article interesting because i’m learning about new things.