The Yinghuo-1 is to be launched later this year by a Russian carrier rocket and will go into orbit around Mars in 2010 after a 10-month, 236-million mile journey, Xinhua, China's state-run news agency, reported Friday.
Yinghuo -- Chinese for "light from firefly" -- is to study environmental changes in Mar's climate, including the disappearance of water from the planet, said Zhang Weiqiang, a spokesman for the academy. The probe is to conduct its research from orbit and is not designed to land.
The Yinghuo-1 project is to be China's first exploration of another planet.
Copyright 2009 by United Press International.
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