CHINA-S&T: CHINA LAUNCHES UNMANNED PROBE TO MARS

China launched its first independent unmanned probe to Mars on July 23.  The probe is expected to reach Mars in February where it will attempt to deploy a rover to explore the planet for 90 days. If successful, the Tianwen-1, or "Questions to Heaven", which is the name of a poem written two millennia ago, will make China the first country to orbit, land and deploy a rover in its inaugural mission. It was launched aboard China's largest carrier rocket, the Long March 5 Y-4, which blasted off at 12:41 p.m. (0441 GMT) from the Wenchang Space Launch Centre on Hainan.

(Comment: Analysts view it as China's bid for global leadership in space and a display of its technological prowess and ambition.)






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