China Post First Mars Mission withTianwen-1 Spacecraft

CHINA POST on 26 September 2020 issued a first day cover stamp marking the launch of China's First Mars Spacecraft Tianwen-1. Shown is a maxi card of planets in our solar system, the Tianwen-1 craft en route to Mars and postmarked WSLC Longlou. 

Tianwen-1 was a China National Space Administration (CNSA) mission to send a robotic spacecraft to Mars that consisted of 5 spacecraft: an orbiter, deployable camera, lander, drop camera, and the Zhurong rover. 

The mission's scientific objectives included investigation of the Martian surface geology and internal structure, search for indications of current and past presence of water, and characterization of the space environment and the atmosphere of Mars.

The mission was launched from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site on 23 July 2020 on a Long March 5 heavy-lift launch vehicle. After seven months of transit through the inner Solar System, the spacecraft entered Martian orbit on 10 February 2021.

On 22 May 2021, the Zhurong rover drove onto the Martian surface via the descent ramps on the landing platform. With the successful deployment of the rover, China became the second nation to accomplish this feat, after the United States, as well as the first nation to orbit, land and release a rover during its first foray into Martian space.