Tianwen-1 completes braking maneuver and enters parking orbit around Mars

China's Mars mission, called Tianwen-1, is going very well so far. This week the spacecraft successfully completed its third braking maneuver and entered a parking orbit around Mars on Wednesday at about 6:29 AM BJT. The announcement was made this morning by the China National Space Administration.The probe will orbit Mars for three months conducting scientific explorations using cameras and spectrometers. It will also check the pre-selected landing site and weather on the Martian surface as it prepares for landing in the months to come. The orbit Tianwen-1 is currently in takes it 59,000 kilometers away from the surface of Mars at its farthest point and at its nearest point only 280 kilometers from the surface.

The larger orbit takes two Martian days to complete. China launched Tianwen-1 on July 23, 2021, with today marking the 215th day since it left home. Currently, the probe is 212 million kilometers away from Earth. February has been a busy month for Mars.

Earlier this month, NASA's Perseverance rover successively made its harrowing seven-minute journey to the Red Planet's surface, landing successfully. The rover is currently operating perfectly and has phoned home. One of the most exciting experiments Perseverance has taken to the surface of Mars is the Ingenuity helicopter.

When the helicopter takes flight in the coming weeks, it will be the first controlled flight attempted on the surface of another planet. NASA considers it a Wright brothers moment, and if the test flight is successful, Ingenuity could change how Mars is explored in the future. The helicopter called home earlier this week, and everything is currently working optimally. Ingenuity is still attached to the underside of Perseverance and will be deployed to the surface of Mars a little later in the mission.