The new Chinese mission includes an orbiter, a lander, and a scout vehicle. While other countries have taken a phased approach to visiting Mars, first an orbiter, then a lander, and then a scout, China emphasizes that it will attempt to operate all of these components for the first time at once.
The orbiter, according to four scientists involved in the mission, will study Mars and its atmosphere for about a Martian year, or 687 days on Earth. In addition to two cameras, the spacecraft carries an underground radar, a detector to study the Martian magnetic field, and three other scientific instruments.
The rover will attempt to land in the Utopia Planitia region in the Martian latitudes of the northern north. NASA’s Viking 2 mission landed there in 1976. Previous studies using data from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter showed that Utopia Planitia has a water ice cap equivalent to that found on Lake Superior on Earth. .
If it succeeds in the dangerous Martian landing, the rover will use a combination of cameras, ground-penetrating radar, and other instruments to better understand the distribution of underground ice, which future human colonists on Mars could use to sustain themselves. China’s mission is to last about 90 Martian days.
A fourth mission, the Russian-European joint rover Rosalind Franklin, would also launch this summer. But the technical hurdles, compounded by the coronavirus pandemic, could not be overcome in time. It is now slated to launch in 2022.
What other spacecraft is currently studying Mars?
It’s getting a little crowded around the red planet.
Six orbiters are studying the planet from space. Three were sent there by NASA: Mars Odyssey, released in 2001; Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, in 2005; and MAVEN, who left Earth in 2013.
Europe has two spacecraft in orbit. Its Mars Express orbiter launched in 2003, and the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, which is shared with Russia’s space program, took off in 2016.
