China's Space Agency reveals the name of its First Mars exploration Mission

China's space agency revealed the name of its first Mars exploration mission on Friday, and said the mission is on track to take place in the coming months.

China reveals the name of its first mars exploration mission

China's space agency revealed the name of its first Mars exploration mission on Friday (24 April, 2020), and said the mission is on track to take place "in the coming months."China National Space Administration (CNSA) on Friday released a statement regarding their Mars mission. The mission has been named 'Tianwen 1' The mission is named after the country's planetary exploration program 'Tianwen', meaning 'quest for heavenly truth'. According to the CNSA, the program was named after a long poem by ancient Chinese poet Qu Yuan.

China completed its first public test of a Mars lander in November last year, keeping the country on track for an unmanned exploration mission to the red planet in 2020.The space agency stated the mission to Mars is due to take place 'in the coming months'.

So far, the United States and the former Soviet Union are the only two countries to land a spacecraft on Mars, but the European Space Agency and India have successfully sent spacecraft to enter the planet's orbit. While talking to the media, CNSA stated that the probe will study the soil, geological structure, environment and atmosphere of Mars. The robotic probe will be made up of an orbiter, lander and a six-wheeled rover, which will have solar panels and carry 13 scientific instruments. The administration said the probe is due to land on Mars before July 2021, after which the 200-kilogram (441-pound) machine will work for around three months.

China's space agency revealed the name of its first Mars exploration mission on Friday, and said the mission is on track to take place "in the coming months." https://t.co/jLdzSF2gH7

— CNN International (@cnni) April 24, 2020

The entry of China to the space race was quite late. But in the decades, China has pumped billions of dollars and other resources into research and training and in addition to the Mars mission, the country has been actively pursuing it's lunar exploration mission as well.

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