Here's a tweet thread to get you primed for this ambitious mission! (1/n)
📸 CNSA
![Tianwen-1 lander with rover on top, deployment rails extende](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EdigNPiVcAMPKQh.jpg)
A propulsion error left the vehicle stranded in Earth orbit after launch, and it eventually re-entered and was destroyed.
China decided to do their own thing next. (3/n)
nasaspaceflight.com/2012/01/fobus-…
Combined, they are one of the largest payloads to go to Mars in a long time at over 5 tons (bigger than Curiosity or the Trace Gas Orbiter, even!) (4/n)
📸 CASC
![A photo of the combined rover/lander/orbiter spacecraft in a](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Edig1tSU8AABvCZ.png)
It's equipped with cameras, subsurface radar and a magnetometer, among other instruments. (5/n)
📸 Jim Head
![A diagram of the Tianwen-1 orbiter showing the various instr](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EdihDsaU0AEGc0a.jpg)
It will leverage a lot of what they learned from Chang'e missions at the Moon. (6/n)
📸 CNSA
![the Tianwen-1 lander descending under its propulsion engine](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EdihOGgVAAABVyx.jpg)
It carries with it a nice selection of instruments, including radar, cameras, and a ChemCam-like laser spectroscope. (7/n)
📸 Sprt98
![a photograph of a scale model of Tianwen-1 rover rolling off](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EdihWNGU8AUuySd.jpg)
It only successfully returned to flight in December, in the nick of time. Here's a video of the rollout. (8/n)
Our best guest is the launch will take place tonight, Wednesday 9:45pm PDT / 12:45am EDT (Thursday).
wemartians.com/episode080