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 on a Long March 5 heavy-lift launch vehicle and is currently in orbit around Mars, having reached planetary orbit on 10 February 2021.

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.

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...