The nation's space agency is set to achieve a significant milestone on Wednesday as Tianwen-1, the spacecraft launched by China in July, will attempt to orbit Mars. If successful, China plans to send a lander and robotic rover to the planet later this year. This would make China the third country, alongside NASA, to study the Martian surface with multiple spacecraft. China has announced that Tianwen-1 is expected to arrive at Mars on Wednesday. The China National Space Administration and state media have not released detailed information, as they typically keep their missions shrouded in secrecy. However, there has been some increased transparency in the past year, such as providing live video coverage of the Chang'e-4 mission's launch to the moon. Tianwen-1 was launched in July, strategically taking advantage of a time when Mars and Earth were closest in their orbits around the sun. This enables a quick journey between the two planets. The spacecraft has adjusted its trajectory by firing its engines multiple times to align itself with Mars. The latest engine firing happened on Feb 5, capturing images of Mars from 1.3 million miles away. On Wednesday, the spacecraft will use its engines again to slow down and be captured by Martian gravity, using up most of its remaining fuel in the process. There, the spacecraft will orbit Mars at a safe distance, along with other robotic explorers, as it prepares for a future attempt to land on the surface. There is always a risk of something going wrong, as history has shown with failed missions to Mars in the past, such as a Chinese mission in 2011 that never made it out of Earth's orbit due to a rocket failure. Some spacecraft have also encountered issues during the final stage of entering Martian orbit, like NASA's Mars Climate Orbiter in 1999, which burned up in the Martian atmosphere due to a navigation error caused by a failure to convert English units to metric. In 1992, NASA's Mars Observer spacecraft lost communication shortly before its scheduled arrival at Mars, possibly due to a fuel line issue. Similar mishaps have occurred in previous missions, such as the Soviet Mars 4 spacecraft in 1974. Despite the challenges of orbiting Mars, the ultimate goal is to successfully land on the planet. China's upcoming mission to Mars includes an orbiter with a lander and rover, which will navigate the challenging journey to the planet's surface. China has announced plans to land on Mars in May, with the target location being Utopia Planitia, a large basin in the northern hemisphere. This area was previously visited by NASA's Viking 2 lander in 1976 and is believed to have been impacted by a meteor. One objective of the Tianwen-1 mission is to study the distribution of ice in this region, which could be vital for future human colonization efforts on Mars. Landing on Mars is challenging due to the high speed descent of spacecraft and the thin atmosphere providing little assistance in slowing down the landing process. Air resistance continues to produce high temperatures that need to be managed. Several Soviet, NASA, and European missions have failed upon landing, with only NASA having successfully landed more than once. The Chinese spacecraft will spend a significant amount of time orbiting Mars to assess systems and select a safe landing spot. If it lands successfully, the rover will require a name. A panel of experts in China selected 10 semifinalists from nominations, including individuals named Hongyi, Qilin, and Nezha, who were described by state media. China has also recently achieved success in space with missions to Mars, the moon, and back. The Chang'e-5 mission, launched in November, collected lunar samples and returned them to Earth for study. It was the first new collection of moon rocks since the Soviet Union's last lunar mission in 1976. China's Chang'e-4 mission, which was the first to land on the far side of the moon, is still operational with its Yutu-2 rover exploring the lunar surface over two years after its launch. Another spacecraft arriving at Mars in 2021 is Hope, an orbiter from the United Arab Emirates' space agency, which will study the red planet's atmosphere to aid in understanding its weather patterns. Perseverance, NASA's newest rover, is the third spacecraft to visit Mars. It launched in July and will land directly on the planet's surface on Feb. 18, skipping Martian orbit. This rover, similar to Curiosity, will explore the Jezero crater and carry a different set of scientific instruments. Scientists hope to find fossilised evidence of extinct Martian microbial life in this dried-out lake. Additionally, the mission will attempt to fly a helicopter in the thin Martian atmosphere, a first for the red planet. After landing, NASA's Ingenuity helicopter will be deployed by the rover to conduct test flights in the thin Martian atmosphere, showing that Mars can be explored both in the air and on the ground. In addition to Ingenuity, there are currently six orbiters around Mars studying the planet from space. NASA sent three spacecraft to Mars: Mars Odyssey in 2001, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter in 2005, and MAVEN in 2013. Europe has two spacecraft in orbit, Mars Express launched in 2003 and the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter in 2016. India operates the Mars Orbiter Mission, also known as Mangalyaan, which launched in 2013. Two American missions are currently operating on the ground. Curiosity has been exploring since 2012, while InSight has been researching marsquakes and other internal characteristics of Mars since 2018. Another American mission, the Opportunity rover, ceased operation in 2019 due to a dust storm draining its power.