As of 6 o’clock on January 3, the “Tianwen-1” probe has been in orbit for 163 days, with a flight mileage of over 400 million kilometers, about 130 million kilometers from Earth, and about 8.3 million kilometers from Mars. The probe has a stable attitude. According to the plan, it will implement near-fire braking in more than a month, enter the ring-fire orbit, and prepare to land on Mars.
The “Tianwen-1” mission is the first step for China to independently carry out interplanetary exploration. It will “circle, land, and patrol” Mars through a single launch, that is, Mars orbit, Mars landing, and fire patrol. The “Tianwen-1” probe has a total weight of about 5 tons and consists of an orbiter and a landing patrol device. The landing patrol device mainly includes an entry module and a Mars rover. At present, the orbiter has completed the third on-orbit self-check, and all systems are working normally.