‘Tianwen-1’- Chinese spacecraft lands on Mars

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The Chinese spacecraft landed on Mars today (15th May 2021) making China the second most space-faring nation after US to land on the Mars.

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The Tianwen-1 spacecraft successfully landed on the surface of Mars on Saturday. The landing process comprised of "nine minutes of terror" as the module delays and then slowly descends.

‘Zhurong’, a solar-powered rover will survey the landing surface of the Mars before withdrawing from its platform to oversee the surface ahead. It consists of six scientific instruments that also includes high resolution opography camera.
It will study the soil and atmosphere of the red planet and will also search for signs of ancient life, including any sub-surface water and ice, using aground-penetrating radar.

Tianwen-1, means ‘Questions to Heaven’, a Chinese poem written two millennia ago, is China's first independent mission to Mars. A probe co-launched with Russia in 2011 failed to leave the Earth's orbit.

The five-tonne spacecraft was launched from the southern Chinese island of Hainan in July last year, by the powerful Long March 5 rocket.

Subsequently after more than six months being in transit, Tianwen-1 reached Mars in February where it had been in orbit since.