Tianwen-1

Mockup of the rover at the 69th International Astronautical Congress in Bremen, Germany.

Tianwen-1 (TW-1; simplified Chinese: 天问; traditional Chinese: 天問; literally: "heavenly questions") is a space mission by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) to send a robotic spacecraft to Mars. It carries an orbiter, deployable camera, lander and rover.

The mission was successfully launched from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site on 23 July 2020[1] on a Long March 5 heavy-lift launch vehicle and is currently in orbit around Mars, having reached planetary orbit on 10 February 2021.[2][3]

On 14 May 2021, the rover landed on Mars, making China the fourth country to land a spacecraft on the planet and only the second to land a rover.[4][5]

References

  1. ↑ Jones, Andrew (23 July 2020). "Tianwen-1 launches for Mars, marking dawn of Chinese interplanetary exploration". SpaceNews. Retrieved 23 July 2020.[permanent dead link]
  2. ↑ Roulette, Joey (5 February 2021). "Three countries are due to reach Mars in the next two weeks". The Verge. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  3. ↑ Gebhardt, Chris (10 February 2021). "China, with Tianwen-1, begins tenure at Mars with successful orbital arrival". NASASpaceFlight.com. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  4. ↑ "China lands its Zhurong rover on Mars". BBC News. 2021-05-15. Retrieved 2021-05-15.
  5. ↑ "China lands its Zhurong rover on Mars". BBC News. May 15, 2021. Archived from the original on May 15, 2021. Retrieved May 15, 2021. China has successfully landed a spacecraft on Mars, state media announced early on Saturday. The six-wheeled Zhurong robot was targeting Utopia Planitia...