After more than a year of exploring Mars, the Chinese space probe Tianwen-1 has successfully captured images. Covering the entire Red Planet, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced on June 29.
Tianwen-1, which translates to “Searching for Heavenly Truth,” consists of six separate spacecraft: an orbiter, two deployable cameras, a lander, a remote camera, and a Jurong rover.
The images in question were taken by the orbiter during 1,344 orbits around Mars, with Gurung taking pictures of the red planet from every angle as he examined the surface. In the statement, the CNSA investigation said it had completed all of its tasks, including capturing medium-resolution images covering the entire planet.
Amidst the turmoil of the global Covid-19 pandemic, Tianwen-1 was launched on July 23, 2020. What or what this work is unique China has become the first country to successfully send an orbiter and rover to Mars on its first attempt.
With insertion into orbit and a successful landing, Tianwen-1 was a historic victory for both the CNSA and space exploration. Prior to Tianwen-1, only two successful assignments were NASA’s Viking 1 and 2 missions in 1975 to send an orbiter and a lander to Mars.
Prior to that, the Soviet Union had attempted this feat with two missions to Mars 2 and 3 in 1971, and Mars 6 in 1973. Mars 2 was a complete failure, as the rover was destroyed and the orbiter returned no data. On Mars 3, the orbiter received nearly eight months of data, and when it landed safely, it returned only 20 seconds of data. On Mars 6, the orbiter produced data from the absence experiment, but the probe failed during landing.
By the time Tianwen 1 discovered the red planet, Mars showed up: dusty hills, shield volcanoes, impact craters, and even the North Pole.
A crater on Mars, photographed by the Tianwen-1 space probe. (Credit: CNSA).
While the probe was capturing these stunning images, Jurong was collecting data and information about Mars’ geological structure, atmosphere, environment and soil.
The North Pole of Mars. (Credit: CNSA).
In total, the probe collected 1,040 gigabytes of raw science data, which was processed by scientists back on Earth and handed over to researchers for further study, according to CNSA.
While the probe entered Mars orbit on February 10, 2021, the Jurong rover did not land on Mars until May 14 of the same year. It landed on Utopia Planetia, the current home of NASA’s Viking 2 spacecraft, which landed on the vast plains of Mars in 1975.
In June 2022, Zhurong successfully discovered wet mineral deposits from the most recent geological period on Mars linked to groundwater. Wet minerals include substances such as olivine, pyroxene, and feldspar, which can be changed by incorporating water into their chemical structures.
The Jurong rover captured this image of the dunes on Mars shortly before it went dormant in May 2022. (Credit: CNSA)
Unfortunately, Zhurong had to go into sleep mode as of May 18, 2022 due to the low temperature and poor sand and dust conditions during the Martian winter. This idle mode ensures the long-term survival of the rover, which will rise again in December.
Tianwen-1 makes China the third country to successfully land a spacecraft on Mars, after the European Space Agency (ESA), India and the United Arab Emirates successfully sent their spacecraft into orbit of the Red Planet.
Tianwen-1 also shows China’s strong desire to explore Mars. Recently announced plans to return Mars samples to Earth in 2031, two years ahead of NASA and the European Space Agency.
Besides their ambitious robotic missions, the CNSA announced last year that it plans to send its first teamwork to build a base on the Red Planet by 2033 with the goal of sending regular missions to Mars. The 2033 deadline is in stark contrast to NASA, which announced earlier this year that it plans to send astronauts to Mars in the late 30s or early 40s.
China is very active in human space exploration, with three astronauts currently stationed at the Chinese space station Tiangong for six months. The newest crew just arrived last month.
Where will space exploration take us in the coming years? Which country will land the first humans on Mars? Only time will tell, that’s what we know!
This article was originally published in Universe Today. Continue reading the original article.