--- title: "China Just Launched a Mission to Hunt for Life on Mars" description: "China has successfully launched its Tianwen-1 — Heavenly Questions — mission to Mars, including an orbiter, lander, and a rover." date: "2020-07-23" modified: "2020-07-23" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/china-launched-mars-mission" categories: - "Astronomy" - "Mars" - "Space" tags: - "china" - "CNSA" - "long march-5" - "mars" - "the digest" --- # China Just Launched a Mission to Hunt for Life on Mars ![China has successfully launched its Tianwen-1 — Heavenly Questions — mission to Mars, including an orbiter, lander, and a rover.]() *\Image: CSNA\* ## Tianwen-1 China has successfully launched its Tianwen-1 — roughly translated as "Heavenly Questions" — mission to Mars. The spacecraft, which is intended to hunt for life on the Red Planet, includes an orbiter, lander, and a rover. A Long March 5 rocket took off from China's Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site early Thursday morning local time, kicking off the country's first mission to the Red Planet since its first failed attempt in 2011. It's only the fourth time a Long March 5 rocket of this kind, a gigantic heavy lift launch system, has successfully made it off Earth, [according to *The Verge*](). ## Long Commute The mission is expected to arrive at Mars in February 2021. China now has the chance to become only the second country in the world, after the US, to land a functional robotic spacecraft on the surface of Mars. Other attempts by Europe and the Soviet Union have had only limited success. Both of Europe's attempts failed, while the Soviet Union's Mars 3 spacecraft managed to land in 1971 — but failed less than two minutes after landing. NASA has had substantially more success, having sent [four]() robotic vehicles to the Martian surface to date. ## Looking for Life If the lander makes it to the surface intact, the Tianwen-1 rover will attempt crawl the Martian surface to study the planet's geology. It will also attempt to find evidence of current and past life, map the surface, and examine the composition of Martian soil. The news comes after the United Arab Emirates [kicked off its own mission]() to Mars on July 19. The country will attempt to explore the Martian atmosphere and climate using a orbiting spacecraft called Hope. It's a hot summer for Mars missions, with NASA planning to launch its Perseverance Mars rover mission [as early as July 30](), weather permitting. **READ MORE:** [China successfully launches interplanetary mission to Mars with rover in tow]() \[*The Verge*\] **More on the three missions:** *[Three Separate Countries Are Launching Mars Missions This Month]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()