SPACE: Mars is a Busy Place This Month
It’s a busy February for Mars, with three probes from three separate countries arriving at the Red Planet over the course of just nine days. But this Martian party didn’t happen by coincidence — it has to do with the mechanics of both Earth and Mars’ orbits. The United Arab Emirates’ first interplanetary mission, the Hope probe, achieved Mars orbit Tuesday (Feb. 9), as Live Science sister site Space.com reported. China’s first interplanetary mission, Tianwen-1, is scheduled to enter its own Martian orbit Wednesday (Feb. 10). The Chinese probe includes both an orbiter and a lander with a rover onboard, … Read more