The robotic probe carried out a 15-minute burn of its
thrusters at 7:52 p.m. Beijing time (1152 GMT), the China National Space
Administration said in a statement, slowing the spacecraft to a speed at which
it could be captured by the pull of Mars' gravity.
In May or June, the Tianwen-1 will attempt to land a capsule
carrying a 240-kg rover in a rapid seven-minute descent onto a massive plain in
the northern hemisphere of Mars known as Utopia Planitia.
If the landing is successful, the solar-powered rover will
explore the Martian surface for 90 days, studying its soil and seeking signs of
ancient life, including any sub-surface water and ice using a
ground-penetrating radar.
Tianwen-1, or "Questions to Heaven", the name of a
Chinese poem written two millennia ago, is China's first independent mission to
the planet after a probe co-launched with Russia failed to leave the Earth's
orbit in 2011.
The probe is one of three reaching Mars this month. The Hope
spacecraft launched by the United Arab Emirates successfully entered the
planet's orbit on Tuesday. Hope will not make a landing but will orbit Mars
gathering data on its weather and atmosphere.
Tianwen-1 will also have an orbiter component surveying the
Martian atmosphere with a range of instruments including a high-resolution
image camera.
The two probes join six other orbiting spacecraft above Mars
launched by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the
European Space Agency (ESA) and India.
In the United States' most ambitious Mars mission, the
1-tonne Perseverance probe is expected to arrive on Feb. 18. It will
immediately attempt a landing in a rocky depression with precipitous cliffs
called Jezero Crater.
On the surface, Perseverance will gather rock samples for
retrieval by a future mission. Two other NASA rovers - Curiosity and InSight -
are currently operating on the planet's surface.
Perseverance will also attempt to deploy a small helicopter
named Ingenuity in the thin Martian atmosphere. -Reuters
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