Chinese spacecraft enters Marsโ orbit, joining Arab ship
China's space agency said the five-ton combination orbiter and rover fired its engine to reduce its speed, allowing it to be captured by Mars' gravity. โEntering orbit has been successful ... making it our countryโs first artificial Mars satellite,โ the agency announced. Tianwen, the title of an ancient poem, means โQuest for Heavenly Truth.โLanding a spacecraft on Mars is notoriously difficult. In 2011, a Mars-bound Chinese orbiter that was part of a Russian mission didnโt make it out of Earth orbit. AdBefore the arrival this week of the Chinese spacecraft and the UAEโs orbiter, six other spacecraft were already operating around Mars: three U.S., two European and one Indian.
In a gallery far, far away, Florida Tech studentsโ artwork displayed on satellite in space
Nava Pishgar is studying aerospace engineering and is one of three winners of a national competition hosted by Students for the Exploration and Development of Space and satellite company Planet. The companies asked for participants to produce a work of art for one of Planetโs Dove satellites. Before 11 p.m. EST on Sept. 2, more than two dozen Dove satellites were hoisted into low earth orbit by a Vega rocket launched from Kourou, French Guiana. Pishgar adds the wavy lines were also inspired by the Space Coastโs shoreline. Planet has now launched over 300 Dove satellites into space, and each has a side panel designed by an artist, โfrom toddlers to world famous illustrators,โ the company said.