China today successfully launched Tianwen I, the first Chinese Mars probe, by a Long March-5 Remote 4 launch vehicle from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province.
This is China's completely independent Mars exploration mission, marking the formal opening of China's planetary exploration mission.
Impressive Tianwen-1 Mars rover mission launched by China today https://t.co/FsyA3I0HrU
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 23, 2020
The Tianwen-1 probe will arrive near Mars after about 7 months in a geosynthetic transfer orbit. It will be captured by Mars through "braking", and will carry out landing, inspection and other missions at an appropriate time.
The Tianwen I, consisting of an orbiter, lander and surveyor, is expected to arrive at Mars in February next year.
Mars is the closest planet in the solar system to the Earth's environment. It has a thin atmosphere and a pressure of 1% of that of Earth. Its local maximum temperature can even reach 35 degrees Celsius, but the average temperature is only minus 63 degrees Celsius.
Mars also contains a large amount of frozen water, so that in the future, Mars is almost the only planet where the possibility of human migration from Earth exists.
It is also possible that Mars could be home to lower life forms like microbes. This is an important reason why the world is keen to explore Mars.
For launching a Mars rover, the right window of time for launch occurs only about once every 26 months. So, several Mars probes have been launched across the globe this year.
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