China launches ambitious mission on journey to Mars
- by Carmen Reese
- in Science
- — Jul 25, 2020
Once they reach the Red Planet, all three spacecraft will work in tandem to study the geology of Mars and learn more about what might be lurking underneath the planet's surface.
Hundreds of space enthusiasts watched the takeoff from a beach across the bay from the launch site.
China's secretive space program has developed rapidly in recent decades. The probe is expected to reach Mars in February 2021, after which it will first enter a highly elliptical orbit with a complete revolution period of about 10 days.
- Nasa's InSight spacecraft, the first robotic lander created to study the deep interior of a distant world, touched down safely on the surface of Mars in November 2018 with instruments to detect planetary seismic rumblings never measured anywhere but Earth.
As the Perseverance Mars Rover traverses the surface of Mars, the LN-200S will provide the attitude and acceleration information used by the Rover's computer for guidance.
Dr Rain Irshad is autonomous systems leader at RAL Space in the United Kingdom and is involved in Nasa's Insight lander on Mars.
The Mars 2020 mission comes hot on the heels of a similar project launched by China. Six other spacecrafts are exploring Mars from orbit: three American, two European and one Indian. Yang Liwei became the first Chinese astronaut in 2003, and past year, Chang'e-4 became the first spacecraft from any country to land on the far side of the moon.
Only the United States has managed to run operations on Mars, as the Soviet' missions landed but failed shortly.
A Long March-5 rocket carrying the Tianwen-1 Mars probe lifts off from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in southern China's Hainan Province, Thursday, July 23, 2020.
The launch of the agency's Mars 2020 Mission will air live on its official website and Nasa Television, as well as numerous other platforms like YouTube, Twitch, Facebook, and Daily Motion.
The Moon missions gave China experience in operating spacecraft beyond Earth orbit, but Mars is another story.
China's Mars rover measures 2.01 m by 1.65 m and weighs roughly 240 kg.
NASA's Perseverance rover acquired its name from a Virginia seventh grader who won a NASA contest open to college young children across the nation.
According to the article, the landing would then be attempted in April or May. On July 30, NASA is expected to launch its new rover, Perseverance. The proximity of the two planets is a window of opportunity that only happens once every couple of years. Their rover will also make use of lessons learned by NASA's previous Mars rovers. "Each of them is a science and engineering marvel", Thomas Zelibor, the chief executive officer of the non-profit Space Foundation, said in an online panel discussion earlier this week.
In 2003, it became the third nation - after the United States and Russian Federation - to send a human into space.
