The Chinese space mission, Tianewn-1, has reached Mars, marking the first success in Chinese history of planet exploration. Tianwen-1 includes a probe (Orbit(Intended to remain in orbit around Mars and robotic robot)RoverThat if everything goes as planned, he will arrive on Mars soil next May.
The entry into Mars orbit was carried out in the early afternoon and according to the Chinese space agency, everything went as planned. In the next few days, the spacecraft will partially change its orbit and start making some observations about the planet. In late spring, it should be rover’s turn, with a risky maneuver to reach Mars soil and begin exploration.
The rover has a mass of about 230 kg and is very reminiscent of Spirit and Opportunity, two of the most famous robots that NASA has sent to Mars. The tools on board the rover will allow you to take pictures, analyze soil properties, and search for frozen water.
So far, the United States has only managed to land some rovers on Mars, overcoming the great difficulties in managing the landings of such huge robots with automated measures. China’s success will be another testament to the leap in the quality of the Chinese space program in recent years, which made it possible at the end of 2020 to reach the moon with a robot to take some samples, and then return them to Earth.
On February 18, it will be up to NASA to make its new, persistent rover reach the planet, much larger and with more tools than the one that first appeared in China on Mars.
