posted 10-01-2020 01:59 PM               

Please use this topic to discuss China's Tianwen-1 mission to orbit and land a rover on Mars.

posted 10-01-2020 01:59 PM               

Here's an image of Tianwen-1 in deep space and on its way to Mars, released today [CLEP]. The spacecraft is currently 24.1 million km from the Earth with a total flight distance of 188 million km. (source)

This was a one-shot deal, with a small instrument carrying two wide-angle lenses released from Tianwen-1. After release it took one image every second, transmitted to TW-1 via wifi. Farewell, expensive deep space camera.

Some stills to give a better idea of the jettisoned camera:

posted 02-10-2021 07:56 AM               

A 3000N engine was ignited at 7:52 p.m. (Beijing time) to decelerate Tianwen-1, according to the China National Space Administration (CNSA).

After about 15 minutes, the spacecraft, including an orbiter, a lander and a rover, had slowed enough to be captured by Mars' gravity and entered an elliptical orbit around the red planet, with its closest distance from the Martian surface at about 400 km. It will take Tianwen-1 about 10 Earth days to complete one circle.

posted 02-12-2021 10:06 AM               

So, here's quite a amazing video of Tianwen-1 passing Mars as it enters orbit.

The above is from a solar array surveillance cam. Amazingly the atmosphere appears discernible as do surface features. Here's more footage, from an antenna surveillance cam.

posted 03-02-2021 06:15 AM               

"Zhurong," a fire god in ancient Chinese mythology, tops the list while "Nezha," a beloved Chinese mythological figure, and "Hongyi," which means having a broad and strong mind in Chinese, ranked second and third, respectively.

The China National Space Administration in January unveiled a list of 10 selections for the name after a global naming campaign that kicked off in late July 2020. Netizens at home and abroad were invited to vote on 10 candidates from Jan. 20 to Feb. 28.

Starting Tuesday [March 2], a panel of experts will also vote for the final candidates. The administration will decide the top three names based on public voting and expert opinions.

posted 03-04-2021 05:24 AM               

The panchromatic images were taken by the high-resolution camera of Tianwen-1 at a distance of 330 to 350 km above the surface of Mars, with a resolution of about 0.7 meters.

In the images, Martian landforms such as small craters, mountain ridges and dunes are clearly visible. It is estimated that the diameter of the largest impact crater in the images is around 620 meters.

The color image is of the red planet's North Pole region taken by the medium-resolution camera, the CNSA said.

posted 05-14-2021 08:52 AM               

The Tianwen-1 probe has functioned normally since its successful launch on July 23, 2020, the CNSA said Friday, adding that the probe entered the Martian orbit on Feb. 10, 2021 and has obtained a large amount of scientific data.

According to the evaluation of its flight status, the probe is scheduled to land on Utopia Planitia on Mars, the CNSA said.

Second and third windows, due to Tianwen-1's orbital period of 49 hours, would be 00:15 UTC May 17 (8:15 pm Eastern May 16) and 01:30 UTC May 19 (9:30 pm ET May 18).

posted 05-14-2021 07:50 PM               

From the Xinhua state news agency:

The lander carrying China's first Mars rover has successfully touched down on the red planet early Saturday morning [May 15] Beijing Time.

It is the first time China has landed a probe on a planet other than Earth.

posted 05-15-2021 10:12 AM               

• May 22: Zhurong rover rolls off lander
  
• May 27: Lander and rover photograph each other
  
• May 28: first science data is transmitted back to Earth

posted 05-22-2021 08:51 AM               

Fresh from Mars! China's first Mars rover, Zhurong, has driven down from its landing platform to the Martian surface.

posted 06-04-2021 12:38 PM            

For instance, it has been suggested by other sources that the lander would take images of the rover on 27th May. Even allowing for limited relay opportunities via China's sole Martian orbiter, it surely shouldn't take a week to produce an image of the rover.

posted 06-04-2021 12:58 PM               

...Zhurong has been on the move, data has been returned and we could/should see something new within a few days.

posted 06-08-2021 07:04 PM               

New images of Mars taken by the Tianwen-1 probe have been released

A new image taken by a high-resolution camera installed on the orbiter of Tianwen-1 at 6 p.m. on June 2 (Beijing Time), shows the landing platform and the Zhurong Mars rover on the Martian surface.

In the image, taken by a high-resolution camera installed on the orbiter of Tianwen-1 at 6 p.m. on June 2 (Beijing Time), two bright spots are visible in the upper right corner. The larger one is the landing platform, and the smaller one is the Zhurong Mars rover.

China's Tianwen-1 mission, consisting of an orbiter, a lander, and a rover, was launched on July 23, 2020. The lander carrying the rover touched down in the southern part of Utopia Planitia, a vast plain in the northern hemisphere of Mars, on May 15.

The rover Zhurong drove down from its landing platform to the Martian surface on May 22, starting its exploration of the red planet, and making China the second country after the United States to land and operate a rover on Mars.

The dark area surrounding the landing platform might be caused by the influence of the engine plume during landing. The symmetrical bright stripes in the north-south direction of the landing platform might be from fine dust when the landing platform emptied the remaining fuel after landing.

The bright spots in the center of the image are the back cover of the entry capsule and the parachute jettisoned during the landing. Another bright spot in the lower left of the image is the heat shield of the entry capsule.

As of June 6, the rover Zhurong has been working on the surface of Mars for 23 Martian days to detect the environment, move around the surface, and carry out scientific exploration. A Martian day is approximately 40 minutes longer than a day on Earth.

All scientific equipment aboard the rover is turned on to collect data. The orbiter operates in a relay orbit with a cycle of 8.2 hours, providing relay communication for the scientific exploration of the Mars rover.

The rover Zhurong is named after the god of fire in ancient Chinese mythology. The name echoes with the Chinese name for the red planet, Huoxing (the fire planet), while the name of the mission, Tianwen, means Questions to Heaven. It is the title of a poem by the ancient Chinese poet Qu Yuan (circa 340-278 BC).

With an expected lifespan of at least 90 Martian days (about three months on Earth), Zhurong will record the Martian landscape with high-resolution three-dimensional images and analyze the material composition of the planet's surface. It will also detect its sub-surface structure and magnetic field, search for traces of ice and observe the surrounding meteorological environment.

The orbiter, with a design life of one Martian year (about 687 days on Earth), will relay communications for the rover while conducting its own scientific detection operations.

posted 06-14-2021 02:45 PM               

The crater is easily seen in the third image from the top of the four image posting above yours. That is some major erosion! Must be the nature of the underlying material.

posted 06-14-2021 02:56 PM               

Now that's a crater. Note the steep sides of the hole due to the cohesion of the soil. Now imagine a 40 ton lander and how big its hole will be. That hole will likely collapse (especially as the hole dries out over the coming weeks) sapping soil away from the footpads.

This soil sapping from the footpads may induce tilting of the lander. That's one of the three risks of landing very large landers on Mars. The second is ejecta hitting the lander as the rocket exhaust comes back up from the hole before engine cutoff. Third: hitting surrounding hardware.

By the way, ongoing research by Masten Space is working to solve the physics of rockets digging craters. UCF supports that project with drop tower experiments and analysis. We are learning how to manage the cratering for Moon and Mars landings and launches.

posted 06-27-2021 11:51 AM               

China releases new videos, images from Mars probe Tianwen-1

The China National Space Administration (CNSA) on Sunday (June 7) released new videos and images of the country's Mars probe Tianwen-1 landing on and exploring the red planet.

The videos show the landing rover deploying its parachute and descending to the Martian surface, and its Mars rover Zhurong driving away from its landing platform and moving over the land.

The images include the Martian landscape and the ruts left behind by the rover.

Above: Photo released on June 27, 2021 by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) shows wheel ruts left by Mars rover Zhurong.

As of the morning of June 27, the orbiter of the Tianwen-1 mission has been operating around Mars for 338 days, and its Earth-Mars distance is approximately 360 million km.

The Mars rover Zhurong has been working on Mars for 42 Martian days and has driven a total of 236 meters.

Above: Panoramic photo released on June 27, 2021 by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) shows the Martian surface.

Zhurong will continue its movement, detection, and scientific exploration missions as planned.

The orbiter will continue to operate in a relay orbit, providing relay communication for the rover's scientific exploration while conducting its own scientific detection operations.

posted 07-18-2021 03:10 PM            

Most recently, it took images showing the back cover and parachute of the lander at a distance of 30 meters.

posted 01-09-2023 08:50 AM               

The Zhurong Mars rover has been hibernating on the Martian surface since May 18 last year and was expected to resume activity in December, around the time of the Spring equinox in the northern hemisphere.

However no announcement of establishing contact with the rover has been made. The South China Morning Post reported Jan. 7, citing sources that do not wish to be named, that teams on Earth have yet to receive a signal from Zhurong. ...

Meanwhile the Tianwen-1 orbiter has been tasked with assessing the area and attempting to contact the rover. Teams are however also having trouble receiving data from the orbiter, according to SCMP.

Radio amateurs have also noted issues with attempts for ground stations to lock onto the orbiter.

posted 02-22-2023 01:03 PM               

The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) captured images of the rover on March 11, 2022, a second on Sept. 8, 2022 and finally Feb. 7, 2023. The images were published Feb. 21 by the HiRISE Operations Center.

The images show that the solar-powered Zhurong — which landed in May 2021 — has not moved since at least September 2022. It had entered a planned hibernation state in May 2022 to ride out the low solar radiation levels of winter in Mars's Utopia Planitia region.

Zhurong was expected to autonomously resume activities around December, around the time of Spring solstice in the northern hemisphere, when temperatures and light levels reached levels allowing the rover's battery and solar arrays to generate sufficient electrical power.

However Chinese space authorities have not provided an update on the status of the rover. The South China Morning Post reported Jan. 7, citing sources that do not wish to be named, that the mission team was yet to receive a signal from Zhurong.

The progression of the HiRISE images suggest that Zhurong may have accumulated a covering of Martian dust on its surface. This could impact the function of both its solar arrays and the pair of "windows" which allow a chemical called n-undecane to store heat energy during the day and release it during the night.

posted 08-19-2024 10:25 PM               

Zhang said that if dust levels on the panels were 30% greater than expected, then Zhurong would require the strongest sunlight levels on Mars to reactivate. A level of 40% or more above expected levels would mean the rover will not be able to wake up.