The Chinese space agency unveiled the name of its first Mars exploration mission on Friday, coinciding with China’s annual Space Day and the 50th anniversary of the launch of its first satellite. The Mars mission is called Tianwen-1, the official news agency Xinhua reported, citing the China National Space Administration (CNSA).
The unmanned Mars exploration mission is expected to launch this year. The name comes from “Tianwen” or “Asking Heaven”, a poem by Qu Yuan who lived more than two millennia ago.
The poem asked questions about stars and other celestial objects. The CNSA said that in future, all Chinese planetary exploration missions would be named “Tianwen” to denote the country’s scientific activities in space.
China successfully launched its first satellite, the Dongfanghong-1, in 1970. In 2003, it became the third country to place a man in space with its own rocket after the former Soviet Union and the United States.
Since then, China has been racing to overtake Russia and the United States and become a major space power by 2030.
(This story has not been edited by staff and is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
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