China's unmanned Mars probe, Tianwen 1, blasts off on a Long March 5 rocket from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Center in Hainan, on July 23, 2020. [Photo/Xinhua]
After landing on Mars, China's Tianwen-1 probe will detect the surface and internal structure of the red planet by using its onboard radar equipment.
A ground-penetrating radar, a key probe instrument, was developed by the Aerospace Information Research Institute under the Chinese Academy of Sciences. It is expected to survey the Martian soil and ice, and to collect data about the structure beneath the planet's surface at depths of between 10 and 100 meters.
China launched its first Mars probe, Tianwen-1, on Thursday, kicking off the country's independent planetary exploration mission.
According to scientists, the Mars probe will take about seven months to land on the planet. (Xinhua)
The China National Space Administration (CNSA) on Thursday published high-resolution images of Mars captured by the country's Tianwen-1 probe. These images include two panchromatic images and one color image, said the CNSA.
Chinese scientists have found new evidence that there was water on Mars in the past and there are hydrated minerals on the red planet, which can be potentially exploited during future crewed Mars missions. The study published on Thursday in the journal Science Advance...
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