China has successfully placed the "Tianwen-1" probe into orbit around Mars and aims to land a small rover on the surface of the red planet.
According to the Xinhua News Agency, the Tianwen-1 probe has successfully entered Mars' surrounding orbit. The Chinese agency noted that the probe was launched in July from Hainan Island in southern China and is expected to land on Mars in May. Qi Wang, director of the National Space Science Center at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, stated in a research note that if the "Tianwen-1" mission succeeds in landing a rover on Mars' surface, China would be the first country in the world to reach orbit around this planet and land on it, along with deploying a rover on its first mission to the red planet.
The Chinese entry into Mars orbit represents an additional step in Beijing's ambitious space program, aiming to establish a manned space station by 2022 and send astronauts to the moon. China has spent billions of dollars on space exploration missions while attempting to enhance its global standing and technological power.
The United Arab Emirates successfully reached Mars with its first mission when the "Hope" probe entered orbit around the red planet at 7:42 AM (UAE time). This achievement encapsulates six years of hard work by a team of Emirati engineers who devoted 5.5 million work hours to the project. The Hope probe, traveling at a speed of 121,000 km/h, reduced its speed through retro thrusters for 27 minutes to reach an estimated speed of 18,000 km/h, successfully inserting itself into Mars' orbit after a seven-month journey. This allows the UAE to start sending data on Mars’ atmosphere and climate.
This makes the UAE the fifth space agency to reach the planet, marking the first Arab interplanetary mission. The Mars program is part of the UAE's efforts to develop its scientific and technological capabilities and reduce its reliance on oil. The probe is expected to capture, along with its three scientific instruments, the first complete image of Mars’ atmosphere. The instruments will gather various data points about the atmosphere to measure seasonal and daily changes. This information will provide scientists insights into the dynamics of climate and weather in different layers of Mars' atmosphere, highlighting how energy and particles, such as oxygen and hydrogen, move through the atmosphere and how they escape from Mars.
The "Hope" mission is one of three missions launched from Earth in July, including NASA's "Perseverance" rover and the Chinese "Tianwen-1" mission. While the Hope probe will orbit the planet, "Tianwen-1" will orbit and land, and "Perseverance" will land on Mars. All three missions were launched around the same time due to the alignment between Mars and Earth on the same side of the sun, making the journey to Mars more efficient. While the Hope probe is the first of these missions to reach Mars, "Tianwen-1" is expected to arrive on February 10, and "Perseverance" on February 18.
