China is about to launch a trio of spacecraft to Mars, including a rover

In early July 23, China is slated to launch its most ambitious space mission to date, sending a trio of spacecraft to Mars, including a rover to explore the planet’s surface. If successful, China will become the second nation to land and operate a rover on the Red Planet.

The mission is called Tianwen-1, after the long poem “Tianwen,” which means “Questions to Heaven,” and involves sending an orbiter, lander, and rover to Mars. The three spacecraft will launch on one of China’s most powerful rockets, the Long March 5, and then travel together through deep space to the Red Planet. As the orbiter studies Mars from above, the lander and rover will cause the daring to rush to the surface. The lander is tasked with gently landing on the ground in one piece, keeping the rover safe and providing a platform for the wheeled vehicle to roll and explore.

Tianwen-1 is the latest in a long line of increasingly complex space projects that China has tackled in the past decade. Last year, the country became the first nation in history to land and operate a rover on the other side of the Moon. China remains focused on lunar exploration, with plans to launch a mission later this year to bring samples from the lunar surface.

Now with Tianwen-1, China embarks on what could be its first major interplanetary mission. He has even bolder projects planned for the future, such as visiting an asteroid and visiting Jupiter in the 2030s. “They are definitely on a long-term quest for exploration of the lunar and planetary solar system,” says James Head, a planetary geoscientist. from Brown University who has worked with scientists in the Chinese Space Program. The edge.

Of course, missions to Mars are no easy task, and China’s first attempt to reach the Red Planet didn’t even go beyond Earth. In 2011, the country attempted to send an orbiter to Mars called Yinghuo-1, piggybacking on a much larger Russian spacecraft bound for the planet called Phobos-Grunt. But the launch of the vehicle on a Ukrainian rocket ultimately failed, destroying Phobos-Grunt and the Chinese spacecraft.

China is handling both the launch and the development of spacecraft for Tianwen-1. If the ambitious mission is successful, China will become one of the few countries to reach and orbit Mars. China’s goal of landing on the red planet during this journey it is an even bigger movement. Only the United States and the Soviet Union have landed on Mars, and only the United States has successfully operated a rover on the planet. “It will show that China is a full-spectrum space power,” says David Burbach, a professor at the Naval War College who studies China’s space program. The edge, speaking in a personal capacity. “That they can check all the boxes of what a great space power can do.”

As is the case with most Chinese missions, the details surrounding this release are relatively sparse. But China has provided general information about the overall structure of the mission. The three spacecraft will spend about seven months traveling to Mars, reaching the planet sometime in February 2021. That month will also mark the arrival of the UAE Mars orbiter, which launched on July 19, as well as the arrival of the new NASA plane. Perseverance rover, which will launch on July 30.

Once Tianwen-1 arrives, the trio will remain in orbit for about two to three months, while China examines its possible landing site. “Basically they want to validate the characteristics of the site with their own data,” says Head, adding: “Every day you build confidence that you are in Martian orbit until you make a decision on when to proceed to the surface.” China aims to land on an area of ​​Mars known as Utopia Planitia, according to the chief mission scientist who writes in Astronomy of nature. Planitia Utopia is the same region on Mars where NASA’s Viking 2 lander landed in 1976.

The Tianwen-1 rover has a long list of scientific tasks ahead, including mapping Martian geography, searching for any water ice on Martian soil, measuring Mars’ surface weather, and more. The rover is equipped with six instruments, including its most exciting tool, a ground penetrating radar that can identify different rocks and even search for deposits of water ice below the surface.

To reach the surface, the landing couple and rover will make a bold seven to eight-minute descent to the surface of Mars, according to China’s state-run media agency. Xinhua News. The process will be similar to how NASA lands its spacecraft on Mars. First, the spacecraft will depend on Mars’ thin atmosphere to cushion its fall, slowing it down substantially after exiting orbit. They will then deploy a parachute for about a minute and a half to slow down further. Finally, the lander will start an onboard engine to float above the surface for a few moments, and then gently land.

Photo: Xinhua via Getty Images

Confirmation of the success or failure of the landing will likely depend on China’s official words. “They do great business when things are successful; they are relatively calm until it is clear that they have been successful, “Burbach says.” If it goes into orbit, they will make a big deal of it. If the landing is successful, I am sure there will be a lot of attention to it. ” As for the orbiter, it will serve as a relay, providing communications between Earth and the rover. It will also attempt to examine Mars from above with seven of its own instruments.

But first, the mission has to be launched successfully. Airspace closures over the launch site at the Wenchang spacecraft launch site in southern China indicate the launch could occur around 12:45 am ET on July 23, according to Andrew Jones, a journalist. independent that covers China’s space flight program. If the 23rd launch resists, China will have until early August to try again. This release will be just the fourth release of Long March 5, and its track record has not been perfect. While its first flight was relatively good in 2016, the Long March 5’s second launch in 2017 ended in failure. China spent up to two years diagnosing the problem and redesigning the machinery in the engines responsible for the failure. Fortunately, the vehicle successfully flew again in 2019. If that launch had failed, it is doubtful that Tianwen-1 would have been able to climb this summer.

“This new rocket was designed to take them to the next level,” says Jones. The edge. So they can launch a space station, carry out a lunar sample return mission and begin sending missions to the [lunar] South Pole. “Jones added:” If this launch had failed, they would have many explanations as to why, basically, all these large and ambitious space missions that were planned would be delayed again. “

A successful mission would surely bring even more prestige, and more attention, to China’s burgeoning space program. In the United States, it will likely renew heated discussions between lawmakers and space policy experts over China’s growing dominance of the space world. However, Burbach says that a science-based mission should not concern the United States. “If you find a Chinese mission to Mars concerned, it means you are concerned that China is a science and engineering competent country, with a generally capable rocket program,” he says. He notes that China has conducted missions in space that have been a cause for concern, such as conducting a test in 2007 to destroy a satellite and create hundreds of debris. But a scientific mission is not something to be concerned about. “In any case, I think it is an opportunity to allow additional cooperation with the Chinese technical community,” says Burbach.

While Tianwen-1 could further elevate China on the world stage, the country also sees these missions as a way to inspire youth in the country, according to Jones. “Engaging in these kinds of really challenging high-tech areas is something that drives the economy,” he says. “It also inspires people, as with Apollo missions, to get involved in STEM and pursue these kinds of careers that can lead to exploration and all kinds of areas of science and technology.”

Hopefully, if these spaceships succeed, we’ll have a little more information on Mars, too. “Every time we go to a different place on Mars, we learn something completely new,” says Head. “This is why it is so important to have abundant surface exploration and rovers. It simply provides a new area; they will be completely new things, without a doubt. And that will complement our overall image of Mars. “