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Chinese space probe arrived at Mars

The second spacecraft in two days has arrived at Mars. One day after the United Arab Emirates successfully launched their satellite al-Amal into orbit around Mars, the Chinese spacecraft has joined. The American mission will arrive next week.

The Tianwen-1, Chinese for ‘Quest for Heavenly Truth’, consists of a satellite and a rover. The satellite was put into orbit today, and the rover will be disconnected in May to land on Mars. This is an extremely complicated operation because the air around Mars is very thin.

Golf cart

To land the Tianwen-1 rover safely, it uses a parachute, return missiles and airbags. The rover, the size of a golf cart, is then expected to be able to drive around the rocky Mars surface for three months. There it goes in search of traces of water and life.

If all goes according to plan, China would be the second country, after the US, to successfully organize a landing on Mars. The Russian Mars 3 also landed on the red planet in 1971, but only lasted for 110 seconds.

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