Tianwen-1 – Chinas Mars exploration mission

The Tianwen-1 mission launched atop a Long March 5 rocket from Hainan Island’s Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on July 23. China National Space Administration’s (CNSA) Mars mission as “Tianwen.” It means Heavenly Questions or Questions to Heaven, a poem written by China’s well-known poet Qu Yuan (340-278 BC).

Daily Current Affairs Quiz 2020

Key-Points

CNSA stated that China’s future planetary exploration missions will be named the Tianwen series. It signifies the Chinese nation’s perseverance in pursuing truth and science and exploring nature and the universe.

China’s Mars mission includes complete orbiting, landing, and roving in one mission.

With this mission, the country aims to catch up with India, the US, Russia, and the European Union who is already executing their Mars Mission.

China in recent years has emerged as a major space power with manned space missions and landing a rover in the dark side of the moon.

It is currently building a space station of its own. However, China’s attempts to send an exploratory probe to Mars called Yinghuo-l, in a Russian spacecraft in 2011 failed as shortly after the launch and it was declared lost and later burnt during re-entry.