China's Mars probe Tianwen-1 has traveled more than 400 million km by Sunday morning and is expected to enter Mars orbit next month, according to the China National Space Administration (CNSA).

As of 6 a.m. on Sunday (Beijing Time), the Mars probe had flown in space for 163 days. It was about 130 million km from Earth and about 8.3 million km from Mars.

According to the CNSA, the probe is functioning stably and is scheduled to slow down before entering Mars orbit in more than a month and preparing itself to land on the red planet. Since its launch on July 23, 2020, the Mars probe has captured an image showing both Earth and the moon, as well as taking several selfies. It has carried out three orbital corrections, a deep-space maneuver and self-checks on multiple payloads.

Tianwen-1 probe, weighing about five tonnes, consists of an orbiter, a lander and a rover. It is designed to complete orbiting, landing and roving in one mission.

After entering the Mars orbit, it will spend two to three months surveying potential landing sites, using a high-resolution camera to prepare for the landing in May.

The most challenging part of the mission will be the soft landing, an autonomous process of the probe lasting seven to eight minutes. The probe will use its aerodynamic shape, parachute and retrorocket to decelerate and buffer legs to touch down.

After the landing, the rover will be released to conduct scientific exploration with an expected lifespan of at least 90 Martian days (about three months on Earth), and the orbiter, with a design life of one Martian year (about 687 days on Earth), will relay communications for the rover while conducting its own scientific detection.

Tianwen-1 means Questions to Heaven and comes from a poem written by Qu Yuan (about 340-278 BC), one of the greatest poets of ancient China. The name signifies the Chinese nation's perseverance in pursuing truth and science and exploring nature and the universe, according to the CNSA.

Source: Xinhua News Agency

Related Links
China National Space Agency
Mars News and Information at MarsDaily.com
Lunar Dreams and more

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Tianwen 1 robotic probe to enter Mars orbit in Feb
Beijing (XNA) Jan 05, 2021
China's Tianwen 1 robotic Mars probe had traveled more than 400 million kilometers by Sunday morning and is set to enter a Mars orbit next month, according to the China National Space Administration. By 6 am Sunday, the spacecraft had flown for 163 days on an Earth-Mars transfer trajectory and was about 8.3 million km from the red planet, the administration said in a statement, adding that it was in good condition. In February, the probe is scheduled to decelerate as it approaches Mars and t ... read more