CURRENT AFFAIRS

Detailed explanation-1: -Tianwen-1 (TW-1; simplified Chinese: ; traditional Chinese: ; lit. Heavenly Questions) is an interplanetary mission by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) which sent a robotic spacecraft to Mars, consisting of 6 spacecraft: an orbiter, two deployable cameras, lander, remote camera, and the Zhurong rover.

Detailed explanation-2: -HELSINKI - The two spacecraft making up China’s first interplanetary mission are both suffering issues, with the rover potentially lost on the surface after winter hibernation.

Detailed explanation-3: -Mars Pathfinder was launched December 4, 1996 and landed on Mars’ Ares Vallis on July 4, 1997. It was designed as a technology demonstration of a new way to deliver an instrumented lander and the first-ever robotic rover to the surface of the red planet.

Detailed explanation-4: -The 10 names - Hongyi, Qilin, Nezha, Chitu, Zhurong, Qiusuo, Fenghuolun, Zhuimeng, Tianxing and Xinghuo - are taken from ideas including Chinese mythological figures, Confucian concepts and legendary animals.

Detailed explanation-5: -China is also looking to follow up its Mars success with an ambitious mission to collect samples from Mars and deliver them to Earth. The mission is named Tianwen 3 and will involve a pair of Long March 5 launches - China’s largest rocket - around 2028 to send landing and orbiter spacecraft to the Red Planet.