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The mission will carry out scientific investigations of the soil and environment of the red planet.
The China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced the name of its first mission to Mars on April 24. The chosen designation is ‘Tianwen 1’, which will be part of the Chinese planetary exploration program ‘Tianwen’ or ‘Search for heavenly truth’, a name inspired by a poem by Qu Yuan, an ancient Chinese poet who lived between the 4th century- III a. C.
The probe’s mission will aim to conduct scientific investigations of the Red Planet’s soil, its geological structure, environment, atmosphere and its water, says the CNSA.
The robotic probe that will go to Mars will be made up of three different parts: the orbiter, the lander, and the scout vehicle. The latter weighs 200 kilograms and has six wheels, four solar panels and thirteen special scientific instruments. According to Sun Zezhou, chief designer of the probe at the Chinese Academy of Space Technology, the rover will work about three months on the planet.
The start date for the mission to Mars has not yet been announced, but it is expected that it will be in the coming months. Meanwhile, Ye Peijian, a prominent academician scientist specializing in deep space exploration, claims the probe will land on the Martian surface before July 2021.
