China Blasts Off on Its Long March to Look for Life on Mars

SHANGHAI— China introduced its very first mission to Mars on Thursday, aiming to join the short listing of nations that have landed a spacecraft on a different earth.

The Tianwen-one blasted off from the Wenchang Place Launch Middle on the island of Hainan at twelve:40 p.m. local time aboard the newly designed Long March five rocket. It is predicted to make the 34-million mile journey to Mars in seven months, after which it will attempt to slip into orbit all over the earth and deliver a rover to the floor.

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