China s Tianwen-1 Mission Launches To Mars

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The Long March 5 carrying Tianwen-1 to Mars on July 22.

CNSA


China is, it appears, headed to Mars. A Long March 5 rocket lifted off from Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on Hainan Island, in the South China Sea through partly cloudy skies on Thursday afternoon, local time. The stark white rocket blazed a trail through the blue at 12:41 p.m. local (9:40 p.m. PT). However, China National Space Administration (CNSA), the national space agency, are yet to confirm it has reached its intended orbit and is on its way to the red planet. 
It was a little different to the live launch day coverage we've come to expect from the likes of [/how-to/spacexs-historic-demo-2-delivers-nasa-astronauts-to-iss/ NASA and SpaceX]. No official livestreams were provided by CNSA and there was no official countdown. Instead, many avid rocket-watchers -- myself included -- were following private videos streamed to Chinese social media platforms Weibo and Douyu. 




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Douyu user PhilLeaf seemed to have one of the best views of the launch, kynghidongduong.vn but streamers constantly battled dropouts and disconnections. A YouTube channel "LC-123" had [ just under 5,000 concurrent viewers] approximately a minute before launch and as the rocket took off, provided excellent views.

The launch was ideal, but until CNSA confirms Tianwen-1 has made it to its initial parking orbit, there's still a chance Tianwen-1 might not make it to the red planet. Earlier flights of the Long March rocket have seen the second stage reach a parking orbit around 13 minutes after launch. Chinese state media service CCTV have reported that the mission was a success and the probe is now in its transfer orbit to Mars. We'll update this post if we hear more.

Long March 5 blasting off carrying Tianwen-1.

LC-123 YouTube stream

After coasting in its parking orbit, its thrusters will fire again and send it on its journey toward Mars. Tianwen-1, tour trung quốc which includes an orbiter, a lander and tour trung quốc a rover, [/news/chinas-daring-tianwen-1-mission-to-mars-everything-you-need-to-know/ is expected to reach the red planet in February 2021].

It's been a busy time for Mars probes. On Sunday, the [/news/hope-mars-probe-is-headed-for-the-red-planet-after-picture-perfect-launch/ UAE's Hope probe launched to Mars] from Japan. On July 30, [/how-to/nasa-launched-next-mars-rover-everything-you-need-to-know-about-perseverance/ NASA is expected to launch its new rover], Perseverance. Fortunately, [/news/nasa-mars-perseverance-rover-how-to-watch-the-mission-launch-live-july-30/ that one will be broadcast live on NASA TV], so we should have excellent views of the final robotic explorer to blast[ pic.twitter.com/7oRLNegDNK][ pic.twitter.com/7oRLNegDNK]
— Andrew Jones (@AJ_FI) [ July 23, 2020]














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