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China’s successful launch of Mars mission seals global era in deep-space exploration

A Chinese spacecraft is on its way to Mars after launching successfully from Hainan Island in southern China. The mission — named Tianwen-1, which means ‘questions to heaven’ — is the country’s first attempt to land on the red planet.

The 5,000-kilogram spacecraft, which contains a lander, orbiter and rover, blasted off from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center aboard a Chinese Long March-5 rocket at 12:41 p.m. local time on 23 July. Some 36 minutes later, the craft was successfully put on its trajectory towards Mars.

由于运转周期不同, 所以地火距离是不断变化的

火星离我们最近的距离: 约 5500万公里 （约为月球最近时的150倍）

大约每隔26个月, 近距离接触出现一次