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Countdown as China’s Tianwen-1 Mars probe gets ready for red planet orbit
China’s unmanned spacecraft Tianwen-1 is set to reach Mars within hours, as international efforts to explore the red planet heat up.The Tianwen is expected to go into orbit around Mars early Wednesday evening, just hours after the Hope satellite launched by the United Arab Emirates did so. Nasa’s Perseverance rover will join them next week.China is a latecomer to Mars.Five other countries have already been there, including India. In 2011, China made its first attempt with a small orbiter…