American actress Anna May Wong on November 17, 1937. Photo to promote her upcoming film Daughter of Shanghai.
Credit: © Paramount Pictures

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. All month long, Behind the Headlines will celebrate the accomplishments and heritage of Asians and Pacific Islanders.

Anna May Wong was a Chinese American actress. She became famous during the early years of the American motion-picture industry. During her lifetime, Wong was one of few Asian American performers who achieved widespread success. She eventually grew disappointed with the limited roles offered to her. She also became an outspoken critic of the casting of white performers as Asian characters.

Wong Liu Tsong was born on Jan. 3, 1905, in Los Angeles, California. Her parents operated a laundry. Wong made her first motion-picture appearance as an extra in The Red Lantern (1919). She then continued acting in small roles. For years, she hid her work as an extra from her family. Wong’s first credited role was in Bits of Life (1921). After her father learned of her acting career, he insisted on being present when she was on set.

Wong starred in the 1923 film Toll of the Sea, the first widely released feature film made in Technicolor. Before Technicolor, films were either black and white, or colored by hand. In Toll of the Sea, Wong played the romantic lead, a role that brought her new fame. However, her stardom began to strain her family life, as photographers and fans showed up at the family laundry to see her. Wong’s family was further upset by her role as an untrustworthy “Mongol slave” in The Thief of Bagdad (1924).

By the late 1920’s, Wong had grown disappointed with Hollywood. She was consistently offered roles as enslaved people, temptresses, and villains. In contrast, sympathetic leading roles were often reserved for white performers. Even leading Asian characters were often played by better-known white actors made up to look Asian. In The Crimson City (1928), for example, Wong played a supporting role to lead actress Myrna Loy, a white woman made up to look Asian. Wong moved to Europe in hopes of finding more realistic roles. There, she learned to speak French, German, and Italian. In 1929, Wong starred alongside the British actor Laurence Olivier in the play A Circle of Chalk in London.

In 1931, Wong starred as the lead in the Broadway play On the Spot. The role led to Wong’s return to Hollywood, with Daughter of the Dragon (1931) and Shanghai Express (1932). Both films offered the type of Asian villain role that Wong had sought to escape. However, Shanghai Express allowed for a more nuanced performance. In it, Wong plays Hui Fei, a prostitute (sex worker) and an ally of a Chinese warlord who later betrays him.

Despite the acclaim she received for Shanghai Express, Wong continued to be offered disappointing roles. For example, producers wanted Wong to play a dancer called Lotus in the film The Good Earth (1937). But Wong wanted to play O-Lan, a leading Chinese character. The German actress Luise Rainer went on to win an Academy Award for portraying O-Lan.

In 1936, Wong left Hollywood again, this time for China. In China, she was criticized for her early film roles and for being too western for Chinese audiences. After Wong returned to the United States, filmmakers were more interested in hiring her to coach white actors playing Asian characters. In 1942, Wong retired from acting in movies.

During the 1950’s, Wong acted in television shows. In the TV series “The Gallery of Madame Liu Tsong” (1951), she played an art gallery owner who solved crimes. In 1960, she returned to motion pictures, playing a housekeeper in Portrait in Black. The same year, she was given a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame, a series of bronze stars set in the sidewalk and named for celebrities. Wong died on Feb. 3, 1961, from a heart attack.

TikTok, a social media app
© XanderSt/Shutterstock

TikTok’s Time in Congress

United States Congress met with TikTok CEO Shou Chew last week in his first appearance defending the use of the mobile app (application) in the United States. TikTok is a social media service for sharing videos. The mobile app enables users to instantly post (publish online) short videos set to music or other sound. While TikTok is a Chinese company, it is not accessible in China. However, it is extremely popular in the United States. The main concern over TikTok is that the app collects data from users that could be sent to Chinese authorities. Lawmakers also stated that the app is unhealthy for children since the algorithms can show dangerous videos to young users. Shou Chew maintained the technology is not different than other United States tech giants like Instagram and Facebook. Some people have skyrocketed to fame through TikTok, including Addison Rae, Charli D’Amelio, and Lil Nas X. Many popular users in the United States defended TikTok on their platforms, reaching millions.

TikTok, which is called Douyin in China, was created in 2016 by the Chinese company ByteDance. TikTok has since become internationally popular. ByteDance purchased the lip-syncing app Musical.ly in 2017 and merged it with TikTok in 2018.

TikTok has several features that allow users to slow down, speed up, or otherwise edit videos. Users can enhance (improve the appearance or quality of) their videos with special camera filters, stickers, text, and video clips. Several TikTok videos are often joined together to make the person on camera appear to instantly shift locations, clothing, or makeup. Users can respond to other videos in a duet. In a duet, two videos are posted side by side and run simultaneously. Duets encourage TikTok users to collaborate (work together).

TikTok videos are often informal and silly. They frequently involve lip-syncing, a style of performance in which the performer’s mouth moves in time with a recorded musical track. The service makes use of hashtags to organize similar videos. A hashtag is a keyword or phrase preceded by the hash symbol or pound sign (#). Hashtags enable users to participate in trends or challenges. In a challenge, users copy a particular video topic or theme—such as a specific visual gag, dance, or song—and post their version on TikTok with the challenge hashtag. Trends and challenges rapidly rise and decline in popularity on TikTok.

Each user has a custom home page that presents select content based on the user’s watching habits. TikTok uses a computerized mathematical procedure called an algorithm that learns a user’s preferences and interests to suggest video content. Users also can become followers of other users, or search for videos by hashtag or username. They can send messages directly to other users and post comments about videos. Some users have gained or increased their fame through the app. The rap and country singer Lil Nas X, for example, was discovered after he began lip-syncing on TikTok. Many songs have grown in popularity after being featured in TikTok videos, trends, and challenges.

A suspected Chinese spy balloon floats off the coast of South Carolina in February 2023.
Credit: © Randall Hill, Reuters/Alamy Images

If you have seen the news recently, you have probably heard about the suspected spy balloons floating over North America. The United States has shot down four floating objects in the past two weeks. What are these mysterious balloons?

These aren’t balloons that were accidentally let go at a birthday party! The balloons in question are designed to float at high altitudes in the sky and perform a function. Some balloons track weather, and others record information from down below.

The balloon shot down on Saturday, February 4th, was a Chinese device with surveillance capabilities. One American official said it was about the size of three school buses! It was floating about 60,000 feet (18,000 meters) above the ground. The balloon had floated from Montana to South Carolina. On Friday, President Joe Biden ordered a fighter jet to shoot down the balloon. Navy officers worked to recover the debris from the Atlantic Ocean to figure out what exactly the balloon was doing. While the United States did not know much about the balloon, the discovery led Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to cancel his planned diplomatic trip to Beijing.

Starting Friday, February 10th, the United States shot down one unidentified object daily for three days. These objects were all either unlawfully in Canadian or American air space or posed a threat to flights. The object shot down on Friday was 40,000 feet (12,000 meters) over frozen waters on the northern coast of Alaska. This object was about the size of a small car. This object was smaller than the first balloon targeted a week before.

On Saturday, February 11th, the United States shot down an object around 100 miles from the United States and Canadian border in Yukon, Canada. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed he agreed with the plan. This object was smaller than the one shot down over South Carolina eight days prior and was more cylindrical in shape.

The next day, an object soaring 20,000 feet (6,000 meters) over Lake Huron, near Michigan, was shot down on February 12th, 2023. This object was octagonal with strings hanging off of it. Officials stated it could have been a flight safety threat and a surveillance balloon.

Officials were unable to locate the objects shot down over Alaska and Lake Huron since they submerged under partially frozen water. President Biden called off the search for them. We will not know who controlled those objects or what they did over American territory. Researchers will study the object shot down over Canada to see what its purpose was. Biden announced that the last three objects were most likely tied to private companies researching weather or other scientific studies. However, the first balloon was confirmed to be controlled by China.

The recent events have complicated the relationship between the United States and China. Officials from China have stated the balloon was a civilian weather research airship and not a means to collect surveillance data from other countries. While some people think the balloons and objects are from alien lifeforms, American officials have claimed there has been no indication that the objects were extraterrestrial.

People hold white sheets of paper in protest over coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions after a vigil for the victims of a fire in Urumqi, as outbreaks of COVID-19 continue, in Beijing, China, November 28, 2022.
Credit: © Thomas Peter, Reuters/Alamy Images

Back in 2020, when COVID-19 broke out, the world slowed down. Scientists and health experts figured out that masks, hand sanitizer, and social distancing decreased the chance of infection. However, staying home and testing also helped keep the cases down until vaccines were available. Some countries continued lockdowns and travel bans for longer than most of the world. China adopted a “zero-COVID” policy which required testing, hospitalization or isolation in facilities during infection and after exposure, and lockdowns that halted the country’s economy. While the strict policies did maintain a lower rate of infection compared to the United States and other countries, protesters have pointed out that the policy has harmed the economy and the general quality of life since businesses closed during lockdowns and access to food and healthcare was limited.

On Thursday, November 24th, a fire in an apartment building in Urumqi in China’s Xinjiang region killed 10 people and injured 9. The fire broke out on the 15th floor of the building and spread upward. When firefighters arrived, the stream of water from the fire hose could not reach the fire due to pandemic control barriers. Xinjiang had been under strict lockdowns to prevent the spread of COVID-19 for over three months before the fire. Many residents stayed in their apartments out of fear of breaking lockdown rules.

People began raising white papers at the vigils held to mourn those who died in the apartment fire. White is a symbol of death and mourning in Chinese culture. However, the papers soon became a symbol protesting China’s strict zero-COVID policy and censorship. The papers also cover faces, allowing protesters to hide from cameras. The white paper represents what the protesters would like to say if they were not afraid of the consequences of speaking out against the Chinese government. Some protesters have added messages on their papers to share their thoughts.

The last major demonstration in China was the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. These protests broke out among university students demanding political and economic reform. The current protests began in Urumqi, where the fire occurred, and spread to cities and college campuses around China, including in Beijing, Guangzhou, and Shanghai. The protesters asked for an end to the strict zero-COVID policy keeping China locked down while the rest of the world copes with the virus. Some protesters demanded President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping step down.

After intense protests throughout the country, China’s Communist Party lifted some zero-COVID policy regulations allowing people to resume daily activities on December 7th. Many people returned to work and dined at restaurants with their newfound freedom. However, many remained in voluntary lockdown in fear of contracting the virus. Health officials believe that cases will rise due to China’s low vaccination rate, the protests, and relaxed regulations. China is now reporting an average of 30,000 cases of COVID-19 a day, despite a decrease in testing.

Ancient Chinese explorer Xuanzang
Credit: © Almazoff/Shutterstock

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. All month long, Behind the Headlines will celebrate the accomplishments and heritage of Asians and Pacific Islanders.

Zhang Qian, Gan Ying, and Xuanzang were Chinese explorers who made an impact on education, international relations, religion, and trade by traveling throughout Asia. Zhang Qian and Gan Ying set out as diplomats and Xuanzang traveled illegally to learn more about Buddhism. Both explorers left a lasting legacy felt throughout Asia.

Zhang Qian was an ancient Chinese explorer who traveled in the service of Emperor Wudi during the Han dynasty. The Han dynasty was a series of emperors of the same family that ruled China for over 400 years. Zhang’s journeys expanded Chinese knowledge of the world and laid the foundation for later trade between China and the West. Zhang was born sometime before 150 B.C. in Hanzhong, in central China. He worked in the royal palace in Chang’an (now Xi’an), the capital. During the 100’s B.C., the Chinese wanted to destroy large nomadic tribes called the Xiongnu, who demanded tribute and raided towns and villages in northern China. The Xiongnu already had conquered Chinese nomads called the Yuezhi. Emperor Wudi hoped the Yuezhi would form an alliance with him to defeat the Xiongnu.

Ancient Chinese explorer Zhang Qian
Credit: © beibaoke/Shutterstock

Zhang set out about 138 B.C. with some 100 men. The Xiongnu captured Zhang’s party and took them to their chanyu (emperor) who held Zhang captive. Zhang escaped after more than 10 years and continued on his journey to find the Yuezhi. By then, the Yuezhi had moved west to the fertile lands of Bactria, a former Greek colony in central Asia. Zhang passed through the Ferghana Valley in what is now Uzbekistan. In Bactria, Zhang saw goods purchased from India and learned about the kingdom of Parthia.

Zhang failed to convince the Yuezhi king to join the Chinese against the Xiongnu. He took a different route back to China to avoid the Xiongnu, traveling south of the Taklimakan Desert and north of Tibet. But the Xiongnu again captured Zhang. Zhang escaped the Xiongnu during a civil war, returning to China around 126 or 125 B.C. Zhang gave Wudi a detailed report on his voyage. His accounts of Bactria, India, Parthia, and many other regions were the first accurate descriptions that China had received of these places. Wudi was fascinated with the opportunities Zhang presented for diplomatic, economic, and military expansion in Central Asia. The emperor promoted Zhang and sent him on more diplomatic and military missions. These missions increased the empire’s power and helped open the network of trade routes later known as the Silk Road. Zhang died in 114 B.C.

Gan Ying was a Chinese diplomat and explorer in ancient times. In A.D. 97, he set out to reach Da Qin, the Chinese name for the Roman Empire. Gan Ying traveled farther west than any Chinese person before him. Before Gan Ying set out, the Han Empire already had conquered the Taklimakan Desert and surrounding regions. They called this territory the Western Regions. For the first time in history, trade caravans could travel safely through the Western Regions to the rest of China. However, Parthia, farther west in what is now eastern Iran, controlled trade through its territory. The Chinese general Ban Chao, who had conquered the Western Regions, sent Gan Ying on a diplomatic mission to the Roman Empire. He hoped Gan could establish direct contact and find a way to avoid the high surcharges of Parthian merchants.

Gan Ying traveled west from the Western Regions across what are now Tajikistan and Afghanistan, and into Parthia. He reached a large body of water that most historians think was the Persian Gulf. From there, Gan tried to charter a vessel to sail to the Roman Empire, but Persian sailors would not take him. Gan Ying turned back. However, he collected all the information that he could, probably from sailors and traders gathered in Parthia. When Gan returned to China, he accurately reported that the Romans controlled the largest empire west of China.

Xuanzang was a Chinese Buddhist monk and explorer. Xuanzang traveled by foot and horse from China to India to collect Buddhist scriptures and learn more about Buddhism from other scholars. Chen Hui was born around 602, near Luoyang in the province of Henan. He was raised in the Confucian tradition but converted to Buddhism as a child. Chen was ordained in 622 and was given the monastic name Xuanzang. As a young monk, Xuanzang was troubled by the limited selection and poor quality of Buddhist texts available in China. He resolved to travel to India to bring more such texts back to China.

Xuanzang set off some time between 627 and 629 from the Chinese capital of Chang’an (now Xi’an). The government of the new Tang dynasty had greatly restricted emigration (travel out of the country) at the time. Xuanzang was denied permission to leave China, but he did so anyway, traveling in secret and at night while he crossed the border.

Through his journeys Xuanzang traveled through the Gobi Desert, Taklimakan Desert, Kucha and Turfan, Tian Shan mountains and visited Samarqand and Tashkent in present-day Uzbekistan, what is now northern Afghanistan and the Hindu Kush mountains to arrive in Gandhara, in what is now Pakistan. He also continued to the Kashmir region and the foothills of the Himalaya mountains to Mathura, India, near Delhi. Xuanzang followed the Ganges River east, visiting holy places associated with the life of Buddha.

Xuanzang began his return journey to China in 643 with the help of the Indian emperor Harsha. He arrived back in Chang’an in 645, 16 years or more after leaving China.  Xuanzang was given a hero’s welcome, despite having left Tang China illegally. He returned with more than 650 Buddhist manuscripts, having traveled more than 10,000 miles (16,000 kilometers). Xuanzang wrote a book about his journeys and spent the rest of his life translating the manuscripts he had collected from Sanskrit, an Indian language, into Chinese. Xuanzang died in 664.

Chinese-American skier Eileen Gu
© Svend S. Nielsen, Shutterstock

Eileen Gu became the first freestyle skier to win three medals in a single Olympics at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, China. Gu won gold medals in women’s ski big air and women’s halfpipe, as a member of the Chinese team. She also won the silver in women’s ski slopestyle at the 2022 Games. Gu is a popular Chinese-American freestyle skier, nicknamed “Frog Princess” for a green helmet she has worn in competition.

Gu competes in the halfpipe, slopestyle, and big air events. The halfpipe is an acrobatic event performed in a deep trough. In slopestyle, competitors perform on special courses that feature various obstacles. Big air involves a long, high jump during which the skier performs acrobatic moves.

Eileen Feng Gu, also called Gu Ailing, was born on Sept. 3, 2003, in San Francisco, California. Her mother, Yan Gu, immigrated to the United States from China. Gu grew up in San Francisco, raised by her mother and grandmother. She began skiing at 3 years old and freestyle skiing at 8 years old. She became a professional at age 16. Gu became the first student to graduate San Francisco University High School in three years in 2020.

Gu began her career representing the United States. She chose to represent China beginning in 2019, becoming a naturalized Chinese citizen. At the 2020 Youth Olympic Games in Lausanne, Switzerland, Gu won gold in big air and halfpipe, along with silver in slopestyle.

Gu became the first woman freestyle skier to land a double cork 1440—a trick that includes four horizontal rotations of 360 degrees and two vertical rotations—in November 2021. She became the first Chinese freestyle skier to earn multiple medals at the World Championships, with gold medals at the 2021 World Championships in Seiser Alm, Italy, and the 2022 World Championships in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Gu became the first Chinese X Games champion at the 2021 games in Aspen, Colorado. She was the only woman to compete in three disciplines and the first rookie to win three medals, earning gold in slopestyle and superpipe, a variation of the halfpipe, and bronze in big air.

Besides skiing, Gu has also had a successful modeling career. She has modeled for high fashion brands including Chanel, Louis Vuitton, and Tiffany and Co.

American figure skating champion Nathan Chen
Credit: © Mladen Antonov, Getty Images

American figure skater Nathan Chen clinched his highly anticipated and long-awaited first gold medal at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, China. The men’s figure skating event is decided by combining scores from the short and long programs. At the 2022 Games, Chen set a world record in the men’s short program with a score of 113.97. The previous record was set by Japan’s Olympian Yuzuru Hanyu, with 111.82 in 2020. Chen has been gunning for gold since his last Olympic performance, in which Hanyu took gold at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Chen was a member of the United States team that won a bronze medal in team figure skating at the 2018 Games. Chen finished fifth in the men’s figure skating event at the 2018 Games, while cementing his nickname, the “Quad King.” He made Olympic history by becoming the first skater to land six quadruple jumps in one program. In a quadruple jump, the skater jumps and makes four full revolutions in the air.

Chen won the men’s World Figure Skating Championship sponsored by the International Skating Union (ISU) in 2018, 2019, and 2021. The ISU is the governing body of international figure skating. Chen also won the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in 2017, 2018, and 2019. The Grand Prix, organized by the ISU, includes six international figure skating events leading to a Final competition for the top skaters.

Chen won six U.S. Figure Skating Championships (also called the nationals, or U.S. Championships), consecutively from 2017 to 2022. U.S. Skating is the national governing body of figure skating in the United States. The organization sponsors competition at many levels, including novice, junior, and senior competitions that lead to national titles. During the U.S. nationals in 2017, Chen became the first skater to land five quadruple jumps in one program.

Chen was born on May 5, 1999, in Salt Lake City, Utah. His parents emigrated from China to the United States in 1988. Chen began skating at the age of three. He entered his first figure skating competition in 2003, at the age of four. Chen won the national novice title at the U.S. Championships in 2010, the youngest novice champion in the history of U.S. Figure Skating. For the 2011-2012 season, Chen moved up to the junior level and won the junior men’s title in 2012. He won the bronze medal at the 2014 World Junior Championships. He won the gold medal in the Final of the 2015 Junior Grand Prix.

Erin Jackson of USA competing on the 500m during the 2021 ISU World Cup on November 12, 2021 in Tomaszow Mazowiecki, Poland.
Credit: © Orange Pics BV/Alamy Images

The 2022 Winter Olympic Games commence this Friday, February 24, with the arrival of the legendary Olympic torch in Beijing, China. The torch was lit in Olympia, Greece, in October 2021 and began making its way to the Chinese capital. From February 2 to 4, it was carried by more than 1,000 people across the cities of Yanqing and Zhangjiakou and into Beijing. The procession included the first Olympic torch handover from robot to robot—underwater! Audiences were limited in person due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, so many watched the torch’s progress online.

The Games officially begin after the opening ceremony on Friday evening. The ceremony takes place at the National Stadium, nicknamed the “Bird’s Nest,” which was originally built for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. The themes of the ceremony showcase China’s “willingness to pursue world peace” and celebrate the Beijing Games’ slogan, “together for a shared future.” However, multiple countries’ officials will not be attending the Games in protest of human rights violations.

Beijing National Stadium, known as the “Bird’s Nest”

To keep athletes and Beijing residents safe from illness, international spectators will not be allowed to attend the events, and additional safety measures have been put in place. There will be 3,000 performers at the ceremony. The vast majority will be teenagers, who are at low risk of long-term health effects from the disease. Small groups of spectators will be invited to watch events at the Games as long as they abide by COVID-19 safety protocols.

Beijing is holding a record number of sporting events, with 109. There are seven new events at the Beijing 2022 Olympics in skiing, snowboarding, and monobob—that is bobsledding with a single athlete. Many events focused on mixed-gender teams, giving Beijing the greatest balance of women’s and men’s events in the Olympics yet.

The mascot of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Games is a panda named Bing Dwen Dwen, from the Chinese words meaning ice and children. The design features a spacesuit to embody the future and a heart on Bing Dwen Dwen’s left paw to symbolize Chinese hospitality.

Aerial photo taken on June 7, 2021 shows wild Asian elephants napping in Jinning District of Kunming, southwest China’s Yunnan Province.
Credit: © Xinhua/Alamy Images

A wild elephant herd has captured global attention and baffled, well, everyone. Fifteen elephants, including three calves, have been on a mysterious trek across their native China. Traveling for over a year, the migration has taken them more than 300 miles (500 kilometers) from home. Their natural habitat is thought to be the Mengyangzi Nature Reserve in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan. Reserves are areas of land set aside to protect the habitats of elephants and other wild animals. China only has about 300 wild elephants. Most live in the south of the Yunnan province.

The traveling herd gained fame in China despite trampling crops, damaging property, and occasionally poking a trunk through someone’s window. The elephant’s padded feet enable them to walk and run with surprisingly little noise. Elephants normally walk at a speed of 3 to 6 miles (5 to 10 kilometers) an hour. When making a long journey, a family walks at about 10 miles (16 kilometers) an hour.

The elephants might have been looking for a new habitat, though they wouldn’t find one among millions in the city Kunming. Paths were cleared and food was provided as towns moved to protect the elephants.

Safety is a high priority for the endangered Asian elephant. Local government launched drones and mobilized hundreds of people to protect the herd’s migration. People attempted to steer the elephants in the southwest direction, back toward the reserve. However, the herd may have decided to head home all on their own.

Elephants are extremely strong and highly intelligent. There are two kinds of elephants, African elephants and Asian elephants, also known as Indian elephants. Asian elephants live only in southern and southeastern Asia. They are found in forests and jungles of Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Today, wildlife experts agree that elephants are in great danger and need human protection to survive. The number of wild elephants has greatly declined because people kill elephants for their ivory tusks. Farming and industry threaten the natural resources needed by elephants to survive. In Asia, human population growth and habitat destruction have severely reduced the number of wild elephants. Scientists estimate that only about 40,000 Asian elephants survive in the wild.

An adult Asian bull stands from 9 to 101/2 feet (2.7 to 3.2 meters) tall at the shoulder and weighs up to 8,000 pounds (3,600 kilograms). Asian cows stand about 8 feet (2.4 meters) tall and weigh about 6,600 pounds (3,000 kilograms).

Most Asian elephants have light gray skin and may have pink or white spots. Most Asian bulls have tusks that grow from 4 to 5 feet (1.2 to 1.5 meters) long. However, some Asian males, called makhnas, have no tusks, and many Asian females have none. Other Asian females have extremely short tusks called tushes.

NASA’s Mars 2020 rover Perseverance
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Mars is one of the most difficult destinations to arrive safely at in the solar system, but you might not know it if you have been paying attention to the news lately. Earthlings are a perfect three-for-three on Mars missions this February. Two countries saw their first missions ever arrive at the Red Planet last week. Then yesterday, the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) landed the Mars 2020 rover Perseverance on the surface of Mars. This flotilla of missions to the Red Planet was facilitated by a favorable alignment in the middle of 2020 that brought the planet close to Earth.

On February 9, a spacecraft from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) arrived in orbit around Mars. The orbiter, called Hope or Amal, will map Martian weather on a planet-wide scale. Such mapping has never been attempted before. UAE became just the fifth country to reach the planet. All systems look good at the moment, but Hope is due to enter the orbit from which it will conduct its mapping in May. At that point, engineers will know for sure if the probe will be able to accomplish its mission.

Hot on Hope’s heels was an ambitious mission sent by the China National Space Administration (CNSA). The mission, called Tianwen-1, went into orbit around Mars the next day. The mission consists of an orbiter, a lander, and a rover. The lander and rover will attempt a landing in a few months. If CNSA successfully deploys Tianwen-1, China will become the third country to land a spacecraft on Mars and just the second to land a rover on Mars.

The last—but certainly not least—to arrive was Perseverance. The rocket carrying the beefy rover blasted off from Cape Canaveral in Florida on July, 30, 2020. Perseverance is the largest rover ever sent to Mars. It’s the size of a small automobile and weighs over 2,200 pounds (1,000 kilograms) on Earth.

Unlike China and the UAE, the United States is a Mars veteran. NASA has landed several successful missions there, including the still-operational sibling craft of Perseverance, the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover Curiosity.

The design of Perseverance is based on that of Curiosity, which has been exploring Mars since 2012. Engineers used many extra components that were originally created as backups for Curiosity in case of manufacturing defects in the originals. But Perseverance is more than just a pile of spare parts. Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) scientists and engineers modified—and beefed up—the design to fit Perseverance’s mission. Perseverance is about 5 inches (13 centimeters) longer and 278 pounds (126 kilograms) heavier than Curiosity.

No matter how many successful missions are under a space agency’s belt, getting a spacecraft to Mars is a heart-pounding ordeal. Landing on the Red Planet is especially challenging. Mars is a large planet, so its gravity pulls spacecraft towards it at high speed. It lacks a thick atmosphere like that of Earth, however, that spacecraft could use to slow down. Furthermore, retrorockets placed on the rover would scour the ground near the landing site and contaminate it with rocket exhaust.

JPL has developed a complex of system to land a large rover on the Martian surface, which was first used with MSL. A parachute slowed the craft after it entered the Martian atmosphere. A set of rockets then fired to hover the craft above the surface. Then, Perseverance was lowered to the ground on a tether. Mission planners call this complicated ride through the atmosphere, filled with opportunities for mission-ending disaster, “the seven minutes of terror.”

Perseverance touched down in Jezero Crater. Billions of years ago, the crater held a lake that was fed by a river system. Perseverance will explore this ancient river delta and search for signs of past life there.

Perseverance carries many sophisticated scientific instruments that will enable it study the geology and climate of the region. The rover is equipped with a special drill and sample vials. After studying the rock samples it has drilled, it will place them in sealed vials and cache (stow) them on the surface. Scientists hope to recover the cached vials and send them to Earth in an ambitious sample return mission in a decade or so.

Other special features included an upgraded autonomous driving package, which will enable Perseverance to pick its way through obstacles on its own to reach a target, and a small helicopter drone called Ingenuity that will look to demonstrate the first powered flight on a solar system body other than Earth. Expect to hear about more exciting discoveries—and see more stunning pictures of Mars—in the months and years ahead.