HELSINKI – China is preparing to launch its Mars Tianwen-1 orbiter and rover next week with the launch of the mission’s Long March 5 launch vehicle.
The rough lift of approximately 878 metric tons on March 5 was transferred vertically to its launch area at the Wenchang Coastal Satellite Launch Center on Thursday night to the east.
The launch indicates that China will launch Tianwen-1, the country’s first independent interplanetary mission, next week.
Final exams and tests will take place before launch, according to Chinese media. A launch date was not announced, instead, reports indicated that takeoff will take place between the end of July and the beginning of August.
Previous releases on March 5 have had a six-day period between launch and launch. This suggests that the launch will occur around July 23.
If successful, the spacecraft will reach Mars in February 2021. The rover, inside an entry vehicle on top of the orbiter, will remain connected to the orbiter in Mars orbit for 2-3 months before the landing attempt. , a document published in Nature This week confirm.
“The vertical transport of the rocket to the launch area has shown that we have made good preparations for the launch mission. We will abide by strict and careful work attitude in the coming days, “Ge Xiaochun, chief engineer at the China National Space Administration, told Chinese media.
“The Mars probe is the first step in China’s planetary exploration project. The upcoming launch mission has been highly recognized and supported by the international community. We hope to contribute Chinese wisdom, ideas and solutions to the world for the peaceful use of space, “said Ge.
Tianwen-1 orbiter and rover
The Tianwen-1 orbiter carries seven scientific charges. It is equipped with a high-resolution camera comparable to HiRise aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. It also carries a medium-resolution camera, an underground radar, a mineralogy spectrometer, energy and neutral particle analyzers, and a magnetometer. The orbiter, designed to operate for a year on Mars, or 687 Earth days, will also play a role of relief for the mission rover.
The rover of approximately 240 kilograms of solar energy is almost double the mass of China’s ‘Yutu’ lunar rovers. It will carry a ground penetrating radar, a multispectral camera and a laser-induced rupture spectroscopy instrument. Other payloads will analyze the weather and the magnetic environment. The rover will attempt to land in a southern section of Utopia Planitia, where it is designed to operate for 90 days on Mars.
The Space Research Institute of the Austrian Academy of Sciences assisted in the development of the orbiter’s magnetometer. L’Institut de Recherche in Astrophysique et Planétologie under the French space agency CNES participated in the instrument of laser-induced rupture spectroscopy. In addition, the European Space Agency’s Estrack ground stations will provide support during the initial launch phase. The Argentine space agency CONAE also has an unspecified role, according to the logos present on the payload fairing.
Largo March 5
The Long March 5 was delivered on a launch pad of approximately 30 by 20 meters, with an umbilical tower 70 meters high. Deployment from the assembly building to the launch area took two hours.
This will be the fourth mission on March 5. The second, in July 2017, failed due to a problem with the rocket’s first-stage engines. Subsequently, the launcher was grounded for over 900 days while the problem was isolated and fixed. The third mission in December 2019 was a high stakes back to flight, whose success cleared the way for the launch of Tianwen-1.
The Long March 5 is part of a new generation of Chinese launch vehicles that use combinations of liquid hydrogen or kerosene fuel with liquid oxygen. Both expand China’s launch capabilities, but could also eventually replace older long-run hypergolic rockets.
The 5 meter diameter Long 5 center stage is powered by two YF-77 hydrolox engines. Each of the four 3.35 meter diameter side amps is powered by a pair of kerolox YF-100 engines.
The Long March 5 is capable of delivering 14 metric tons to the geostationary transfer orbit, 8.2 tons to the trans-lunar injection, or 6 tons to the trans-Mars injection. Tianwen-1 has a mass of about 5 tons.
The fifth long March 5 is expected to launch the return of the lunar sample Chang’e-5 later this year. The second release of the Largo March 5B, a variant for LEO launches, will launch the central module of the Chinese Space Station in early 2021.
Updated at 6.38 am EST with a quote from the CNSA official
