Tianwen-1, China’s first independent interplanetary mission (星际任务),    1    (reach) Mars within days of two other major missions: the United Arab Emirates’ Hope satellite and NASA’s Perseverance rover (探测器), after it had travelled 292 million miles from Earth. All three took advantage of a    2    (particular) suitable launch window when objects launched from Earth would have a    3    (short) and more efficient path to Mars. But all three missions will have plenty to do on the Red Planet.

Various space missions, the European Space Agency’s Mars Express and several of NASA’ s Mars lovers    4    (include), have found possible evidence of water on or under the    5    (planet) surface. But bothTianwen-1    6    the as-yet-unnamed rover will use radar devices to search for even better evidence of pockets of water on Mars.

That’s important, scientists say, because plenty of evidence points to Mars having an    7    (able) to support life at some point in its history: In some areas, it is likely to host liquid water. Tianwen-1’s intended landing site at the Utopia Planitia crater may still host an underground deposit (沉积层),    8    contains as much water as Lake Superior. On a broad scale, researchers around the globe hope    9    (use) information from any of the new Mars missions to look into how a planet with liquid water, organic maternal and an energy source can transform itself    10    a dry, dusty desert place.