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Stephen Chen

China’s unmanned spacecraft Tianwen-1 went into orbit around Mars on Wednesday night, state media reported, as international efforts to explore the red planet heat up.
After a 15-minute deceleration, the unmanned spacecraft was captured by the Martian gravity and began to circle the red planet in a large elliptical orbit, according to state news agency Xinhua.
It comes just hours after the Hope satellite launched by the United Arab Emirates did so. Nasa’s Perseverance rover will join them next week.
China is a latecomer to Mars.
Five other countries have already been there, including India. In 2011, China made its first attempt with a small orbiter Yinghuo, or Firefly, hitching a ride on Russia’s Fobos-Grunt mission. But a launch failure meant it never left the Earth’s orbit.


Over the next couple of months, Tianwen will circle Mars and collect information about the environment below.
A lander is expected to separate from the orbiter around May to make a soft landing on Utopia Planitia, a large, rock-littered plain.
The lander has a robotic rover that will roam the landscape, investigating a wide range of features from soil properties to material composition, water, ice, air quality and magnetic fields, according to the Chinese space authorities.


For a first-timer, this is a complex mission.
Only the United States and the former Soviet Union have managed to land spacecraft on Mars, and these manoeuvres were preceded by many fly-by or orbiting missions.
Since the former Soviet Union’s Mars 1M No 1 mission on October 10, 1960, nearly 50 attempts have been made to visit the planet and about half have failed.
Ken MacTaggart, Britain-based space historian and author of the Haynes Astronaut Manual, said the Tianwen’s orbit insertion might seem simple but was no easy task.
With a time delay of 10 minutes between Earth and Mars, the Tianwen would need to fire up its engines while out of radio contact with the controllers in Beijing.
“All commands and control sequences need to be thoroughly checked to eliminate any errors, and then sent to the spacecraft well in advance,” said MacTaggart, who is co-editor of the Apollo 11 Flight Journal for Nasa’s history division.


He said that to “brake” the Tianwen would need to turn so its rocket engine faced the direction of travel, then pressurise the fuel tanks and start the engine.
“All of these complicated events need to happen in the correct time sequence. If the engine firing happens late, or the burn time is short, Tianwen 1 will sail past Mars into a wide orbit around the sun,” MacTaggart said.
“Entering orbit around Mars, with no possibility of help from Earth if anything goes wrong, is an extremely challenging task. Mars probes from other nations have often failed at this step, and a very expensive American Mars probe exploded when pressurising its fuel system before ignition.”
The US remains the lead player on Mars.
It has launched more than 20 missions to the planet, two involving rovers. The projects greatly expanded knowledge of Mars, including the Spirit rover mission’s 2004 discovery of evidence of water.
China’s space technology has been catching up rapidly in recent years. China made the world’s first landing at the far side of the moon and brought back lunar samples at the end of last year. The success of these missions suggested that China had acquired the critical technology for deep space missions, which depend heavily on autonomous software and hardware, according to some space experts.


A Beijing-based space scientist said China had also learned a lesson from the Soviet Union and would not engage in a costly space race with the US for political reasons.
“Chinese are pragmatic. There may be an allure to race to the moon or Mars. But we stick to our own pace,” said the government researcher who requested not to be named due to media policy.
The Tianwen-1 is the first of a series of spacecraft that China plans to launch to explore the other planets in the solar system. While the US is looking at manned space missions to the moon and Mars, China is opting for robot missions because of concerns about costs and risks, according to the researcher.
But Chinese astronauts will be working on the country’s first space station, with construction expected to start this year in lower-Earth orbit.
“It will be an extremely busy year for Chinese space programme,” the researcher said.
Additional reporting by Liu Zhen


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Science

China’s Tianwen-1 Mars probe goes into red planet orbit

The Tianwen 1 is expected to go into orbit around Mars on Wednesday night. Photo: AP

China’s Mars probe captures its first image of red planet

This image of Mars captured by China’s Mars probe Tianwen-1 was released by China’s space agency on Friday. Image: China National Space Administration handout via AFP

China’s several space missions in 2020 include Mars probe and space station launch

At the C-Space Project Mars simulation base in China’s Gobi Desert, a staff member poses in a mock space suit in April 2019. (Picture: Reuters)

A full-sized model of the core module for China's space station Tianhe displayed at the 12th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, in 2018. (Picture: Xinhua)

A model of China’s BeiDou navigation satellite system on display at the 12th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai in 2018. (Picture: AP)

In January this year, the lunar lander Chang'e 4 probe was tasked with exploring the far side of the moon. (Picture: China National Space Administration/Xinhu­a News Agency via AP)

How China’s Tianwen-1 Mars mission compares with Nasa’s Perseverance rover

A Nasa illustration showing a Mars rover fetching rock and soil samples that could be brought back to Earth. Photo: Nasa

A 1:1 model of China's Mars Rover on exhibit at a Mars mission launch event. (Picture: CCTV)

(FILES) This file NASA illustration, obtained July 20, 2020 shows NASA's Mars 2020 rover as it uses its drill to core a rock sample on Mars. - NASA on July 27, 2020 gave its latest Mars rover Perseverance the all clear to launch later this week on a mission to seek out signs of ancient microbial life. "The launch readiness review is complete, and we are indeed go for launch," administrator Jim Bridenstine said."We are in extraordinary times right now with the coronavirus pandemic, and yet we have in fact persevered and we have protected this mission because it is so important."The launch will take place at 7:50 am (1150 GMT) on Thursday from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on board a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. (Photo by Handout / NASA/JPL-CALTECH / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO /NASA/JPL-CALTECH/HANDOUT " - NO MARKETING - NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

China's Mars rover has four solar panels to power the vehicle. (Picture: CCTV)

News

China

Military


Chinese spacecraft closes in on target and makes complex manoeuvre to circle the planet
Lander expected to make touchdown around May and deploy a rover



Chinese spacecraft closes in on target and makes complex manoeuvre to circle the planet.


China technology

Technology

Space

China’s Tianwen-1 Mars probe goes into red planet orbit

Chinese spacecraft closes in on target and makes complex manoeuvre to circle the planet Lander expected to make touchdown around May and deploy a rover

Chinese spacecraft closes in on target and makes complex manoeuvre to circle the planet

Lander expected to make touchdown around May and deploy a rover