China’s Mars rover will likely attempt to land at a site on northeast Mars, according to a new document released just days before the mission’s launch.
the paper, which was published last week in the journal Nature Astronomy, was written by members of the China team Tianwen-1 Mars Mission, which aims to send an orbiting duo and a lander / rover to the Red Planet.
The study reveals new details about Tianwen-1, outlining its intended landing area, scientific targets, and the names of the instruments aboard the spacecraft. It also emphasizes the historical nature of the mission: Not only is it the first fully-developed Mars mission to Tianwen-1 in China, it is also the first to carry a planetary orbiter and a scout vehicle. (The first Mars ship of any kind in China, an orbiter called Yinghuo-1, was launched on a Russian rocket along with the Russian Phobos-Grunt mission in November 2011. The launch failed, and eventually the entire spacecraft on board fell back to Earth.)
Related: This is the first photo of China’s Mars explorer to be released in 2020
Tianwen-1 means “questions to heaven” and was taken from the title of a Qu Yuan poem (340-278 BC). The mission is expected to launch in a Long rocket of March 5 in late July or early August from Wenchang on Hainan Island, according to the newspaper. Current unofficial estimates suggest a release around July 23.
The spacecraft will reach Mars in February 2021, at the same time as NASA Perseverance Rover and the UAE Hope Orbiter, which released on Sunday (July 19). However, the Chinese rover will remain connected to the orbiter for two to three months before attempting to land, according to the newspaper.
The chosen landing area is Planitia Utopia, a large basin formed by a major impact on the history of Mars, which was also the region where NASA’s Viking 2 lander landed in 1976. Based on the areas defined in earlier statements about landing areas, China had isolated a portion of the vast plain as a candidate landing area, which goes from Isidis Planitia to the great Elysium Mons volcano.
The low elevation of the area means that there will be more time and atmosphere for the incoming spacecraft to slow down and safely descend to the surface. The latitude, between about 20 and 30 degrees north, is also adequate to receive enough sunlight to power the approximately 530 pounds. (240 kilograms) rover. The relatively smooth surface will also be conducive to roving. The mission also benefits from the engineering heritage of China’s Chang’e lunar exploration program, the newspaper said.
The rover is expected to be in operation for about 90 Martian days, or suns, and is nearly twice the mass of China’s Yutu-2 rover, which is currently on its twentieth lunar day on the opposite side of the moon. The Tianwen-1 orbiter will provide a relay communication link to the rover while conducting its own scientific observations during a Martian year, according to the document. (A sun is approximately 40 minutes longer than an Earth day. A Martian year is 687 Earth days).
The orbiter will operate in a polar orbit to map the morphology and geological structure of Mars while using the Mars orbiting subsurface exploration radar instrument to investigate soil characteristics and the distribution of water ice. It will also measure the ionosphere and electromagnetic and gravitational fields, the new article reported.
The rover will investigate the characteristics of surface soil and the distribution of water ice with its own subsurface exploration radar. It will also analyze the composition of the surface material and the characteristics of the Martian climate and environment on the surface.
One of the authors of the article was Wan Weixing, the chief scientist at Tianwen-1. Wan died in May, just a couple of months before the next release. He is described as a world leading space scientist and pioneer in China’s planetary science program in a obituary published last month, also by Nature Astronomy. Its given name, Weixing, literally means “satellite”.
In addition to detailing his career in space, science, and academia, the obituary provides insight into Wan’s other interests. He often stayed up late to watch English Premier League or Italian Serie A soccer games, sometimes causing him trouble getting to academic meetings the next morning, obituary author Yong Wei recalls.
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