Later today , China will attempt to become just the 2nd country to successfully deploy a probe on Mars . Here ’s what we know about this historical mission and how China will attempt to overcome its own “ seven minutes of terror . ”
After months of wait , the true cat is finally out of the bag . China ’s closelipped space delegacy had been tight - lipped about the timing of the landing place , but Ye Peijian , a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences , disclosed the informationduring a lecturing in Beijing yesterday , saying the new wanderer will reach the Martian surface on Saturday , May 15 at 7:11 a.m. local time ( Friday , May 14 at 7:11 p.m. EDT/ 11:11 p.m. UTC ) .
So here comes the#SevenMinutesOfTerrorWith Chinese Characteristics .
Artist’s impression of the Tianwen-1 lander.Image: Xinhua
Tomorrow it is .
According to a source quoting CAST ’s principal consultant of Interplanetary Exploration Ye Peijian in a conference this dawn , Tianwen-1 ’s lander / rover will land on May 14 23:11 UTC!pic.twitter.com / whmiBmPr6N
— Cosmic Penguin ( @Cosmic_Penguin)May 13 , 2021
Depiction of the Zhurong rover and its instruments.Image: Zou Yongliao et al., 2021/Advances in Space Research
The China National Space Administration ( CNSA ) does n’t typically provide live broadcasts of its space - base activities , so we ’ll just have to wait for its prescribed confirmation shortly after the time of the expected landing .
launch in July 2020 , China ’s Tianwen-1 investigation reached the Red Planet on February 24 , where it ’s been orbiting ever since . The investigation , which also deployed an orbiter , is now set todispatcha lander extend the six - wheeled roamer .
Protected by a heat shield , the lander will hit the Martian atmosphere at speeds attain 2.5 miles per 2nd ( 4 klick / s ) , followed by “ seven minutes of terror”—a phase when mission controllers can not respond rapidly enough give the tremendous length involved ( it direct radio set signals nearly 18 minutes to reach Mars ) .
The lander will “ engage two reliable technologies — a laser range finder to work out where it is proportional to Martian terrain and a microwave detector to determine its speed more accurately , ” Deep Bandivadekar , a PhD candidate at the University of Strathclyde , explained in apostpublished at The Conversation . “ These will be used for navigational correction during its parachuted bloodline phase . During the powered descent phase at the remnant , opthalmic and Lidar tomography will assist in risk detection . ”
After landing inUtopia Planitia , the craftiness will deploy a ramp , which the 530 - hammering ( 240 kilo ) rover will use to reach the surface . The Zhurong Mars rover , whose name translates to “ fire god , ” will expend the next three calendar month using its various scientific instruments tostudythe Martian regolith , Rock , geology , and atmosphere . The roamer will also explore for signs of subsurface water ice . This is now the second commission to Utopia Planitia , the previous being NASA’sViking Lander 2 in 1976 .
Should the landing place be successful , China will be just the second state to land a functioning probe on Mars , the United States being the other . Some might quibble , and include the Soviet Mars 3 lander , which performed a soft landing on Mars in 1971 ( the very first delicate landing on Mars , to give them credit ) , but it wangle to transmit datum for a bare two hour before permanently close down ( the probe make do to post a single gray image with no detail ) . A total of nine NASA missions have reached the Martian Earth’s surface since 1976 . The European Space Agency tried to land a rover as part of its 2016 ExoMars mission , but the Schiaparelli landercrasheddue to a software system error .
Along with NASA ’s Perseverance roamer and the UAE’sHope probe , the Tianwen-1 commission is one of three missions to attain Mars this year . If successful , Zhurong will join Perseverance ( along with its eggbeater ) , the Curiosity rover , and the stationary InSight investigation in conducting skill on the Martian surface .
More : Five things to know about UAE ’s first mission to Mars .
InSightMarsMars roversSpacecraftSpaceflightTianwen-1
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