Mission vers Mars Tianwen-1
On July 23, this Long March 5 heavy-lift rocket rose into a
blue morning sky from China's
Hainan Island Wenchang Satellite Launch Center.
The rocket carried
an orbiter, lander, and rover to ask
Heavenly Questions on the ambitious
Tianwen-1 mission to Mars.
In fact Tianwen-1 was the second of three missions scheduled
for a July departure to the Red Planet.
The United Arab Emirates launched its
Amal (Hope) Mars probe
on July 19.
NASA's launch of its
Mars Perseverance Rover
from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, USA is scheduled
for July 30.
That is the last planned
Mars launch for 2020 though.
The minimum-energy
launch window
for an
expedition to Mars
is coming to a close in 2020 and will reopen in 2022.