World / China successfully launches its first independent Mars mission

China on Thursday successfully launched its first independent Mars mission, named Tianwen-1, on a Long March-5 Y4 carrier rocket from Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan Province. The probe is expected to reach Mars in February. If it succeeds, Tianwen-1 (Questions to Heaven) will be the first-ever Mars expedition to complete orbiting, landing and roving in a single mission.

Reuters : Jul 23, 2020, 03:49 PM
WENCHANG- China launched an unmanned probe to Mars on Thursday in its first independent mission to visit another planet, a bid for global leadership in space and display of its technological prowess and ambition.

At 12:41 p.m. (0441 GMT), China’s largest carrier rocket, the Long March 5 Y-4, blasted off with the probe from Wenchang Space Launch Centre on the southern island province of Hainan.