China has announced that they are getting ready to launch a rocket, their first Mars rover, between July 20 to 25 or by early August the latest. They had just moved a rocket in position for the upcoming launch which is one of three missions to Mars with the other two from the U.S. and the U.A.E.
The Long March-5 carrier rocket has been used experimentally three times but without a payload. The Tianwen-1 Mars rover will be the first payload the rocker carrier will officially launch.
In late July or early August, the rocket will launch from the Wenchang Space Launch Center on Hainan island in southern China, announced the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. They will be launching before the United States will launch their Mars rover, Perseverance.
Li Benqi, part of the Long March-5 team, said, 'Testing for all the technical items on the rocket, the Mars rover, and the launching area has been completed so far. While the rocket is at the launching area, our preparations are focused on filling fuel into the rocket and ensuring a good final state of the rocket and the rover. Then we'll enter the launching procedures.'
First Mars Mission
China's space program, which began in the 1950s, will finally have its first Mars mission for the collecting of scientific data. Previously, they had collaborated with Russia to develop a military missile program.
In 2011, China partnered up with Russia in an attempt to complete a Mars mission but had failed. If successful, Tianwen-1 will land on Mars by February 2021. Since their first mission with a crew in 2003, they have sent astronauts to an experimental space station.
China's team has also landed a probe, the Yutu-2, on the Moon's far side. It had been part of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program and the first soft landing on the far side of the Moon in 2019.
Preparing for the new interplanetary space mission comes after China had launched its final satellite of the Beidou navigational system, which is competing against America's Global Positioning System (GPS). This will be their most ambitious space mission yet.
Moreover, they have plans to launch the Chang'e 5 lunar probe before the year ends. By 2022, China plans to complete a permanent space station, the Modular Space Station Experiment II or Mengtian, which translates to 'dreaming of the heavens.'
The United States, United Arab Emirates, and China will all be conducting scientific research on Mars when their rovers land next year in search of signs of ancient microscopic life. They will also be scouting the Red Planet for future missions with astronauts.
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Landing on Mars
The reason they're pushing for a time window before August 15 is because of Mars and Earth's alignment every 26 months. If they miss this window, they will all have to hold their Mars missions until 2022, when the Red Planet will be nearer to Earth again.
Scientists hope to find signs of water on the Red Planet and eventually build entire civilizations there. The U.A.E has already begun working on its Martian city in a desert near Dubai.
The Emirati will be launching Amal, or 'Hope' in Arabic, by July 20 in collaboration with the University of Colorado in Boulder Colorado. Like China, it is the nation's first interplanetary mission.
Engineer Ge Xiaochun from the China National Space Administration said positively, 'The Mars probe is the first step of China's planetary exploration project. The coming launching mission has been highly recognized and supported by the international community.'
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