A Chinese spacecraft has arrived on Mars and is preparing to explore the surface, the country said.
The Tianwen-1 spacecraft is one of three missions to the red planet arriving this month. It comes a day after a space raft from the UAE successfully entered orbit around the planet, and before the arrival of Nasa’s Perseverance rover.
The Chinese mission consists of a combination of a rover and an orbiter. For now, the two will float around the red planet, but in a few months, the rover will release and float to the surface.
If so, it hopes to gather information about the water beneath the surface of Mars, as well as look for signs of ancient alien life on the planet.
Tianwen is the title of an old poem and means “quest for heavenly truth”.
The arrival on Mars marks the first time the country has successfully made the journey, after its 2011 attempt with Russia failed to make it through Earth orbit.
But the most difficult part of the mission will manage to land a rover on the surface of Mars, a complex feat only accomplished by US NASA so far.
Landing a spacecraft on Mars’ ground is notoriously difficult, and China’s attempt will include a parachute, return missiles and airbags. The proposed landing site is in the massive rock-strewn Utopia Planitia, where the American Viking 2 lander landed in 1976. The solar-powered rover – about the size of a golf cart – is expected to operate for about three months, and the orbiter for two years.
China plans to send its rover to the surface in May, where they hope to search for underground water and evidence of possible ancient life.
The solar-powered rover weighs 240 kg and should run for about three months, while the Tianwen-1 orbiter is expected to last for two years.
The spacecraft shot off Earth seven months ago aboard a Long March-5 launch vehicle from the Chinese island of Hainan.
Last week, Tianwen-1 – or the Quest Tor Heavenly Truth – sent back its first image of Mars, 1.4 million miles from the planet.
The three arrivals to Mars all took off in July, using a relatively close Mars-Earth alignment that is only available every two years.
Additional reporting by agencies