China’s Mars Exploration Mission and Science Investigation

Abstract

Abstract China’s first Mars exploration mission (HuoXing-1) has been named as ‘Tianwen-1’ meaning Heaven Inquiry. Tianwen-1 was launched on July 23, 2020. In this paper, the scientific objectives of earlier and current Mars exploration missions worldwide are reviewed, and the scientific objectives, payloads and preliminary scientific investigation plan of China’s first Mars exploration mission are introduced, and expected scientific achievements are analyzed.