With a five-meter-wide, 57-meter-tall rocket waiting to blast off from Chinas southern island of Hainan, the nation is quietly making final preparations for its first independent trip to Mars. When the launch window opens in mid-July, Chinese scientists will strive to send a probe to a planet that confused their ancestors with its constantly changing brightness and position in the sky.
The spacecraft, called Tianwen-1, or the Quest for Heavenly Truth, will carry 13 scientific instruments to examine the Red Planet from orbit and on its surface. Tianwen-1 will examine how water ice is distributed on Mars, as well as the planets physical evolution and its habitability over time. The missionconsisting of an orbiter, lander, and roveris the most ambitious thing one could do on a first attempt, says John Logsdon, a space policy expert at George Washington University.
The odds of a flawless mission are daunting: Of humanitys dozens of attempts to orbit or land on Mars to date, only about half have succeeded. After some high-profile setbacks, NASA has deployed five landers, four rovers and multiple orbiters that have brought the world to life for scientists and the public alike. But Chinas spacefaring experience beyond Earth orbit has been limited to several robotic moon missions and an orbiter that piggybacked on a failed Russian mission to the Martian moon Phobos in 2011.
Two major risks confront the five-metric-ton Tianwen-1, Logsdon says. First, Chinas most powerful heavy-lift rocket, Long March 5, has only launched three timesincluding a major failure in 2017, when the rocket started to malfunction shortly after takeoff. It took more than two years for scientists to fix Long March 5s core-stage-engine problem and score a successful flight in late 2019. Its track record makes observers nervous, however.
Second, Tianwen-1s lander must navigate the challenging Martian atmosphere, which is thick enough to overheat the probe but too thin to decelerate it sufficiently. The spacecrafts entry, descent and landing technology uses a heat shield, a parachute and a retro-engine to slow its descent, an arrangement resembling that of earlier U.S. missions. Yet when the vessel is just 100 meters above the surface, it will pause, take snapshots of the area and quickly calculate the best landing spot. Then it will shift horizontally to center above that spot and carefully touch down with the landers four legs.
In November 2019 China tested this part of the landing procedure, which the nation had previously used successfully in its moon landings, in the province of Hebei. Foreign officials were invited to watch the test on-site. It was the last major public event for Tianwen-1, however. Since then, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) has kept a low profile, and mission scientists have declined or ignored nearly all interview requests.
Should Tianwen-1 land successfully, its research could illuminate new aspects of Mars. For instance, both the orbiter and the rover are equipped with a ground-penetrating radar to chart geologic layers under the surface. The radar on the orbiter can see as deep as a few thousand meters, whereas the instrument on the rover has a shallower view but sharp centimeter-level resolution. Chinas main goal [with these radars] is to explore the water-ice layer under the planets surface, says Wlodek Kofman of the Institute for Planetary Sciences and Astrophysics of Grenoble in France.
Tianwen-1s ability to measure Marss magnetic field excites Jim Bell of Arizona State University, principal investigator of the main camera on NASAs Perseverance rover. One prevailing hypothesis is that the Red Planet used to have a global magnetic field like Earth's, he says. When its smaller molten iron core cooled down, however, Mars gradually lost this shield, exposing the world to solar wind and radiation, thinning its atmosphere and dooming any water that might have flowed on its surface. Since 2014 NASAs Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission has found ample evidence to support this scenario, but scientists crave a fuller picture. Tianwen-1 will be very useful in providing more evidence from a different orbit and from the ground, Bell says. He hopes the Chinese team will share data with the international community piecing together the environmental evolution of Mars.
Tianwen-1 will aim to land in the southern part of Utopia Planitia, a largely flat area between 25 and 30 degrees north of the Martian equator. Geologists have long suspected that this region is covered with ancient mudflows, pointing to stores of bygone water. Its an interesting place to investigate potential past subsurface habitability, says Alfred McEwen, a planetary geologist at the University of Arizona.
The rovers chance of finding water beneath Mars might be limited by its latitude, McEwen notes. Because it draws its power from solar panels, it must stay near the equator. Today water ice below the planets surface, most researchers believe, remains mainly at higher and cooler latitudes.
Tianwen-1s reliance on the sun compelled its team to design hardy instruments, says Rong Shu of the Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Since our rover does not have radioisotope power, all the instruments need to endure temperatures as low as 90 degrees Celsius while at rest, and they operate in the temperature range of 40 to 30 degrees C, he adds.
The rover's payload includes the Martian Surface Component Detector (MarSCoDe), whose design was led by Shu. Similar to ChemCam on NASAs Curiosity rover, MarSCoDe can fire short laser pulses to vaporize the surfaces of rocks from a few meters away. The instrument will sniff the ionized gas produced by these mini blasts and determine the type and quantity of chemical elements in the rocks.
Tianwen-1 is expected to reach Mars in February 2021. It will spend about two months in a parking orbit, waiting for the best timing and surface conditions to land. Chinas expanding radio telescope network of tracking and receiving stations will sustain communications between Earth and the probe.
Already, Chinese scientists are preparing for more missions in the Tianwen series, including ventures to return rock samples from Mars and an asteroid, to perform a flyby of Jupiter and to explore the margins of the suns vast heliosphere. But if Tianwen-1 reaches Mars as planned, Logsdon says, it will put China in the space exploration business in a big way.
Here is the original post:
Chinese Spacecraft Poised for First Mars Mission - Scientific American
- Mars Wrigley and Sankalp Beautiful World join hands with Sourav Ganguly Foundation to salute the COVID Warriors - IBG NEWS - June 22nd, 2020 [June 22nd, 2020]
- 'Leading in space': NASA chief Bridenstine talks SpaceX, Mars and the first woman on the moon with Tulsa Regional Chamber - Tulsa World - June 22nd, 2020 [June 22nd, 2020]
- We need to send at least 110 people to Mars to build a civilisation, study finds - The Independent - June 22nd, 2020 [June 22nd, 2020]
- Elon Musk Loves Mars so Much That He Called it His Souldog - News18 - June 22nd, 2020 [June 22nd, 2020]
- Cosmic 'Lighthouses' to Help Space Travellers Find Ways to Moon, Mars - The Weather Channel - June 22nd, 2020 [June 22nd, 2020]
- Scientist calculates 110 humans would be needed to start new civilization on Mars - New York Post - June 22nd, 2020 [June 22nd, 2020]
- NASA's Curiosity Rover Took a Picture of Earth and Venus in the Mars Sky - Thrillist - June 22nd, 2020 [June 22nd, 2020]
- What's the science on the Emirates Mars Mission? - DW (English) - June 22nd, 2020 [June 22nd, 2020]
- Alien hunters spot carving on Martian warrior in cliffs of Mars - claim - Express.co.uk - June 22nd, 2020 [June 22nd, 2020]
- NASA needs your help teaching its Curiosity rover how to drive on Mars - Space.com - June 22nd, 2020 [June 22nd, 2020]
- NASA's next Mars rover is just one month away from launch - Space.com - June 22nd, 2020 [June 22nd, 2020]
- Mars (TV Series 20162018) - IMDb - June 22nd, 2020 [June 22nd, 2020]
- The UAEs First Mars Mission Is a Robo-Meteorologist - WIRED - July 13th, 2020 [July 13th, 2020]
- NASA Issues Two New Directives to Stop Humans Contaminating Mars And The Moon - ScienceAlert - July 13th, 2020 [July 13th, 2020]
- The quest to find signs of ancient life on Mars - The Jakarta Post - Jakarta Post - July 13th, 2020 [July 13th, 2020]
- Look Out, Mars: Here We Come With a Fleet of Spacecraft - The New York Times - July 13th, 2020 [July 13th, 2020]
- Hope mission to Mars: How to watch historic launch to the red planet Tuesday - MSN Money - July 13th, 2020 [July 13th, 2020]
- Bad weather may delay 1st UAE Mars mission on Japan rocket - ThePeterboroughExaminer.com - July 13th, 2020 [July 13th, 2020]
- Shock Waves Might Offer the Jolt Needed to Reach Mars - USC Viterbi | School of Engineering - USC Viterbi School of Engineering - July 13th, 2020 [July 13th, 2020]
- From The Women Who Led India's Mars Mission to The Women Protesters at a Nuclear Power Plant: Minnie Vaid's Pen Covers Them All - Yahoo India News - July 13th, 2020 [July 13th, 2020]
- 'The Sirens of Mars' tells of the search for life on Mars - Space.com - July 13th, 2020 [July 13th, 2020]
- NASAs Perseverance rover will launch to Mars next month with a global tribute to health care workers - WHNT News 19 - July 13th, 2020 [July 13th, 2020]
- Countdown to Mars: three daring missions take aim at the red planet - Nature.com - July 13th, 2020 [July 13th, 2020]
- The UAEs first interplanetary mission to Mars set for launch - The Verge - July 13th, 2020 [July 13th, 2020]
- The 3D Printed Homes of the Future Are Giant Eggs on Mars - Singularity Hub - July 15th, 2020 [July 15th, 2020]
- Sheikh Hamdan explains why the UAE wants to go to Mars - Khaleej Times - July 15th, 2020 [July 15th, 2020]
- U.A.E. Sets Its Sights on Mars With Launch of Hope Orbiter - The New York Times - July 15th, 2020 [July 15th, 2020]
- NASA unveils new rules to protect the moon and Mars from Earth germs - Space.com - July 16th, 2020 [July 16th, 2020]
- The United Arab Emirates is launching its first mission to Mars - New Scientist News - July 16th, 2020 [July 16th, 2020]
- Aliens are living in underground tunnels on Mars formed by lava billions of years ago, experts suspect - The Sun - July 18th, 2020 [July 18th, 2020]
- Mars Incorporated joins key sustainable farming project for Asian palm oil and cocoa markets - Confectionery Production - July 18th, 2020 [July 18th, 2020]
- The Quarantine Stream: 'Mars Attacks!' Proves Tim Burton Didn't Always Need a Gothic Circus To Have Fun - /FILM - July 18th, 2020 [July 18th, 2020]
- Chocolate Confectionery Market Growth Overview, SWOT Analysis and Forecast to 2027 | Mars, Mondelez, Nestle, The Hershey Company and Ferrero - 3rd... - July 18th, 2020 [July 18th, 2020]
- 198 in Mars Hill nursing home test negative for COVID-19 after employee tests positive - The County - July 18th, 2020 [July 18th, 2020]
- Aliens are living in underground tunnels on Mars formed by lava billions of years ago, experts suspect - The Irish Sun - July 18th, 2020 [July 18th, 2020]
- Mars is about to be invaded by planet Earth - Yahoo! Voices - July 19th, 2020 [July 19th, 2020]
- NASA prepares to launch rover to Mars on July 30 'to seek signs of ancient life'- here's how to watch - Cambridgeshire Live - July 19th, 2020 [July 19th, 2020]
- Watch the United Arab Emirates launch its first mission to Mars - The Verge - July 19th, 2020 [July 19th, 2020]
- For Mars, Hope (and a little Perseverance, too) shines in UAE's 'Apollo moment' - Space.com - July 21st, 2020 [July 21st, 2020]
- NASA's Mars Rover Drivers Need Your Help NASAs Mars ... - July 21st, 2020 [July 21st, 2020]
- Two new books explore Mars and what it means to be human - Science News - July 21st, 2020 [July 21st, 2020]
- Curiosity is investigating a strangely colored rock it found on Mars - Digital Trends - July 21st, 2020 [July 21st, 2020]
- Hashtag Trending United Arab Emirates launch mission to Mars; Diversifying the C-Suite; VPN providers breach - IT World Canada - July 21st, 2020 [July 21st, 2020]
- Why mastering the Moon is vital before missions to Mars - Flightglobal - July 21st, 2020 [July 21st, 2020]
- The United Arab Emirates' Hope mission to Mars in photos - Space.com - July 21st, 2020 [July 21st, 2020]
- What will astronauts need to survive the dangerous journey to Mars? - Science News - July 21st, 2020 [July 21st, 2020]
- COLUMN: Longing to return to Mars, and a world that never was - vancouverislandfreedaily.com - July 21st, 2020 [July 21st, 2020]
- 3 Countries Are Scheduled To Send Spacecraft To Mars This Summer - NPR - July 21st, 2020 [July 21st, 2020]
- Mars Facts: Life, Water and Robots on the Red Planet | Space - July 21st, 2020 [July 21st, 2020]
- UAE launches "Hope" Mars orbiter to study red planet's ... - July 21st, 2020 [July 21st, 2020]
- Alibaba News Roundup: Ant IPO, Mars and the Prado... - Alizila - July 25th, 2020 [July 25th, 2020]
- CU Boulder Helped The UAE Launch Its First Mission To Mars - CBS Denver - July 25th, 2020 [July 25th, 2020]
- Mars is becoming a popular destination spot - The Tribune - Ironton Tribune - July 25th, 2020 [July 25th, 2020]
- Singer Bruno Mars marks 10 years of 'Just The Way You Are' - The Star Online - July 25th, 2020 [July 25th, 2020]
- NASA's Mars 2020 rover will seek signs of ancient life - UPI News - July 25th, 2020 [July 25th, 2020]
- Kevin Hart and the UAE join forces for 'Mars Shot' contest - Space.com - July 25th, 2020 [July 25th, 2020]
- From Earth to Mars: Rosalind Franklins centenary of science - YubaNet - July 25th, 2020 [July 25th, 2020]
- How to watch NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover launch live online - Space.com - July 25th, 2020 [July 25th, 2020]
- Second round of testing complete at Continuing Care in Mars Hill; results underscore importance of using proper PPE - Bangor Daily News - July 26th, 2020 [July 26th, 2020]
- UNLV Professor Part Of NASA's Newest Mars Rover Team - KNPR - July 26th, 2020 [July 26th, 2020]
- 3 Great Mysteries About Life on Mars - The New York Times - July 26th, 2020 [July 26th, 2020]
- Engineers brought together by Mars are now using technology to save Australia's bees from devastating varroa mites - ABC News - July 27th, 2020 [July 27th, 2020]
- Will we ever find life on Mars? | Australia news - The Guardian - July 27th, 2020 [July 27th, 2020]
- Mars rover to carry name of teen with rare disorder and Arizona ties - KTAR.com - July 27th, 2020 [July 27th, 2020]
- Perseverance: the new mission to Mars | News - The Guardian - July 27th, 2020 [July 27th, 2020]
- Tag Along with Mars Rovers as They Explore the Red Planet in a New 4K Video - Colossal - July 27th, 2020 [July 27th, 2020]
- SuperCam Designed, Built And Tested At LANL Is Ready To Head To Mars With Perseverance Mission - Los Alamos Reporter - July 27th, 2020 [July 27th, 2020]
- From Earth to Mars: Rosalind Franklins Century of Science - SciTechDaily - July 27th, 2020 [July 27th, 2020]
- Perseverance will seek signs of life on Mars | Stanford News - Stanford University News - July 27th, 2020 [July 27th, 2020]
- Rock from Mars heads home after 600,000 years on Earth - The Guardian - July 27th, 2020 [July 27th, 2020]
- Was There Life On Mars? NASAs $2 Billion Bot Launches This Week On Unique Sample Return Mission - Forbes - July 27th, 2020 [July 27th, 2020]
- 200 test negative after employee at Mars Hill nursing home confirmed to have COVID-19 - The County - July 29th, 2020 [July 29th, 2020]
- Sticking the landing on Mars: High-powered computing aims to reduce guesswork - University of Michigan News - July 29th, 2020 [July 29th, 2020]
- Was there life on Mars? USC experts explore the upcoming NASA mission - USC News - July 29th, 2020 [July 29th, 2020]
- Mars Will Be 100 Times Faster Through Its Digital Engine - Forbes - July 30th, 2020 [July 30th, 2020]
- The race to Mars: Who is blasting off to the Red Planet and why? - The Irish News - July 30th, 2020 [July 30th, 2020]
- Q&A: The World is Going to Mars. An Aerospace Engineer Explains - University of Virginia - July 30th, 2020 [July 30th, 2020]
- Giant waves of sand are moving on Mars - Science Magazine - July 30th, 2020 [July 30th, 2020]
- How to watch NASA launch its next rover to Mars today - The Verge - July 30th, 2020 [July 30th, 2020]
- NASAs Mars Perseverance Rover Launch: When to Watch - The New York Times - July 30th, 2020 [July 30th, 2020]