China embarks on first independent mission to Mars

China launched its first independent Mars mission on Thursday from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province, marking the start of the nation's planetary exploration program.

As the launch sequence started at 12:41 pm, 10 engines at the bottom of the Long March 5 carrier rocket's first core stage and four boosters roared to life, generating a combined thrust of more than 1,000 metric tons to lift the gigantic vehicle and its payload, the Tianwen 1 robotic probe, into a bright blue sky dotted with white clouds from the coastal launch complex in Wenchang.

The 57-meter rocket, the strongest and most technologically sophisticated in China's launch vehicle family, flew for more than half an hour before placing the spacecraft on an Earth-Mars transfer trajectory. The flight set a speed record for the country's rocket fleet as it surpassed the escape velocity of 11.2 kilometers per second required to get away from Earth's gravitational pull.

If everything goes according to schedule, the 5-metric ton Tianwen 1, which consists of two major parts – an orbiter and a landing capsule – will travel more than 400 million kilometers in nearly seven months before getting captured by the Martian gravitational field, the China National Space Administration said.