Chinese Mars mission is now orbiting the Red Planet
10 February 2021
China's first homegrown Mars mission has successfully made it into orbit around the Red Planet, state-run media confirms.
Why it matters: China is now the sixth nation or space agency to operate a spacecraft in orbit around Mars.
What's happening: The mission — called Tianwen-1 — is expected to gather data about the red world from orbit. Eventually, the spacecraft will release a rover down to the Martian surface.
- If that rover is a success, it will make China only the second nation after the U.S. to operate a rover on the world's surface.
- Tianwen-1's achievement comes one day after the United Arab Emirates' Hope probe made it into Mars orbit.
The big picture: China is a leader in space today. The nation has a human spaceflight program, operates satellites and has plans to build an Earth-orbiting space station in the near future.
What's next: Next week, NASA's Perseverance rover is expected to land on the surface of Mars, bringing up the rear of the parade of Mars missions launched in July and arriving at the planet this month.
Go deeper:The new Mars club
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.