Hyperdrive
Three Mars Missions Set to Arrive This Month
- China, U.S. plan vehicle landings after seven-month journeys
- UAE’s first deep-space excursion to reach orbit on Tuesday
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Robots begin an invasion of Mars this week that will take three scientific missions to the planet by month’s end.
On Tuesday, the United Arab Emirates’ Hope probe will reach orbit to study the red planet’s atmosphere. The following day, China’s Tianwen-1 mission will start ticking off its audacious to-do list, which includes placing a vehicle on the surface. Next week, NASA will attempt to land its largest rover yet -- an SUV-sized behemoth -- in an ancient lake bed.