Successful liftoff of China's Tianwen-1 Mars mission, suspicion on Twitter

China's Mars mission: Tianwen-1, has launched today, 23 July 202o at 10.12 am IST from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on Hainan Island in China. The mission named Tianwen-1 is the first interplanetary mission the Chinese space agency has undertaken, and the world's first Mars mission comprising of an orbiter, rover and lander.

The spacecraft was launched using China's largest carrier rocket, Long March-5, and weighed (including fuel) around 5 tonnes.

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The spacecraft is expected to reach Mars around February 2021 and begin its scientific observation phase in April 2021.

The China National Space Administration (CNSA) has named the mission 'Tianwen-1' after a poem by a popular ancient poet in Chinese history, Qu Yuan.

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