China's Mars probe completes third orbital correction

China's Mars probe Tianwen-1 conducted its third orbital correction Wednesday night, according to the China National Space Administration (CNSA).

The probe carried out the orbital correction at around 10 pm (Beijing time) with its eight 25N engines working simultaneously. The performance of the 25N engines was also tested during the operation.

The orbital correction aims to fine-tune the transfer orbit after the deep-space maneuver, ensuring that the probe achieves a sound planned rendezvous with Mars.

Launched on July 23, the probe carried out its first orbital correction on Aug 2 and the second one on Sept 20.

The probe has traveled about 97 days in orbit, flown about 256 million km and is currently 44 million km from the Earth. All probe systems are in good condition, CNSA said.

Tianwen-1 is designed to complete orbiting, landing and roving in one mission, taking the first step in its planetary exploration of the solar system.

It is expected to reach the red planet around February 2021. After entering orbit, it will spend another two to three months surveying the candidate landing sites before it touches down.

Source: Xinhua News Agency

Related Links
China National Space Agency
Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News

Tweet

Thanks for being there;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.

SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5+ Billed Monthly

paypal only

SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once

credit card or paypal

Simulated satellite rendezvous at ESA
Noordwijk, Netherlands (SPX) Oct 05, 2020
A camera closes in on a detailed model satellite, to simulate the extreme 'guidance navigation and control' (GNC) challenge of rendezvousing with an uncooperative target, such as a derelict satellite or distant asteroid. This scene takes place in ESA's GNC Rendezvous, Approach and Landing Simulator, or GRALS, based at the ESTEC technical centre in the Netherlands, which is used to test vision-based navigation algorithms as well as cameras in development for future space debris removal, as well as ... read more