Mars mission team prepares for its toughest challenge By Zhao Lei | China Daily | Updated: 2021-04-29 09:25 Share CLOSE Spacecraft control specialists at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center monitor the operations of the Tianwen 1 Mars probe in this undated photo. PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY Scientists are readying the Tianwen 1 lander for touchdown on the red planet. Zhao Lei reports. As Beijing's residents bask among the spring blossoms, engineers and technicians in the capital's northwestern suburbs are busily preparing for a challenging maneuver involving a spacecraft hundreds of millions of kilometers from Earth. The team members－spacecraft control professionals at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center－are making all-out efforts to ensure that Tianwen 1, China's first independent interplanetary mission, will soon safely land a rover on Mars to conduct scientific tests.