beijingwalker
ELITE MEMBER
- Joined
- Nov 4, 2011
- Messages
- 65,195
- Reaction score
- -55
- Country
- Location
China begins surveying Mars from above, Tianwen-1 to map topographic model
India Today New Delhi
November 15, 2021UPDATED: November 15, 2021 14:08 IST
The orbiter has been circling the planet thrice every Martian day or Sol while relaying communication between Earth and the Zhurong rover on the ground.
Mars as captured by Tianwen-1. (Photo: CNSA)
China, which this year became the only country to orbit, land and move around a rover on another planet in a maiden attempt, has begun surveying Mars. The mission began with Tianwen-1 changing its orbit to launch global remote sensing exploration of the Red Planet.
The orbiter has been circling the planet thrice every Martian day or Sol while relaying communication between Earth and the Zhurong rover on the ground. In a bid to begin a remote sensing mission, engineers revved up the speed of the orbiter by 78 meters per second shifting the orbit time around the planet. The orbiter that was initially used to complete one orbit in eight hours and 12 minutes, can now circle the planet in seven hours and five minutes, coming as close as 265 km to the planet.
Before the change of orbit, the orbiter was mainly responsible for the relay communication function of the Zhurong rover. According to China's CCTV News, the spacecraft will keep providing more relay communication support for the Mars rover to improve the efficiency of mission development while ensuring that scientific exploration is carried out.
Zhu Xinbo, Deputy Chief Designer of Mars Orbiter told CCTV News that before the orbit change, the orbiter was in a large elliptical relay communication orbit, with the closest point of Mars at 400 kilometres high and at its farthest at 12,000 kilometres from the planet. The entire process was performed autonomously by the spacecraft.
"By the end of next year, after the design life of the orbiter is complete, we will design new missions based on the specific state of the orbiter, and then lower the orbit. By lowering the orbit, more Mars exploration data can be obtained," Zhu Xinbo, deputy chief designer of Mars Orbiter.
Trekking 100 days on Mars, Zhurong drives further south with efficiency. (Photo: CNSA)
The remote sensing mission will help China develop a comprehensive topographic model of the Red Planet as the search for life continues on the surface.
The Zhurong rover, which is on the surface, completed its three-month-long operational life in August, with China extending its services. The administration announced that the 1.85-meter-tall robot completed its three-month life expectancy, "with all of its predetermined tasks completed," and that it will continue carrying out an extended expedition toward an ancient coastal area of Utopia Planitia.
The rover is in the large plain area within the largest known impact basin in the solar system. The 240-kilogram robot is the core component of the Tianwen-1 mission, the country's first interplanetary adventure that created history by orbiting, landing and roving on Mars, all in its maiden attempt.
Zhurong is the sixth rover to move on the Martian surface after five from the United States. It is currently joined by Nasa's Perseverance rover and the Curiosity rover that are exploring the uninhabitable world looking for signs of ancient microbial life within the surface. The three rovers are separated by thousands of kilometres on the Red Planet.
www.indiatoday.in
India Today New Delhi
November 15, 2021UPDATED: November 15, 2021 14:08 IST
The orbiter has been circling the planet thrice every Martian day or Sol while relaying communication between Earth and the Zhurong rover on the ground.
Mars as captured by Tianwen-1. (Photo: CNSA)
China, which this year became the only country to orbit, land and move around a rover on another planet in a maiden attempt, has begun surveying Mars. The mission began with Tianwen-1 changing its orbit to launch global remote sensing exploration of the Red Planet.
The orbiter has been circling the planet thrice every Martian day or Sol while relaying communication between Earth and the Zhurong rover on the ground. In a bid to begin a remote sensing mission, engineers revved up the speed of the orbiter by 78 meters per second shifting the orbit time around the planet. The orbiter that was initially used to complete one orbit in eight hours and 12 minutes, can now circle the planet in seven hours and five minutes, coming as close as 265 km to the planet.
Before the change of orbit, the orbiter was mainly responsible for the relay communication function of the Zhurong rover. According to China's CCTV News, the spacecraft will keep providing more relay communication support for the Mars rover to improve the efficiency of mission development while ensuring that scientific exploration is carried out.
Zhu Xinbo, Deputy Chief Designer of Mars Orbiter told CCTV News that before the orbit change, the orbiter was in a large elliptical relay communication orbit, with the closest point of Mars at 400 kilometres high and at its farthest at 12,000 kilometres from the planet. The entire process was performed autonomously by the spacecraft.
"By the end of next year, after the design life of the orbiter is complete, we will design new missions based on the specific state of the orbiter, and then lower the orbit. By lowering the orbit, more Mars exploration data can be obtained," Zhu Xinbo, deputy chief designer of Mars Orbiter.
Trekking 100 days on Mars, Zhurong drives further south with efficiency. (Photo: CNSA)
The remote sensing mission will help China develop a comprehensive topographic model of the Red Planet as the search for life continues on the surface.
The Zhurong rover, which is on the surface, completed its three-month-long operational life in August, with China extending its services. The administration announced that the 1.85-meter-tall robot completed its three-month life expectancy, "with all of its predetermined tasks completed," and that it will continue carrying out an extended expedition toward an ancient coastal area of Utopia Planitia.
The rover is in the large plain area within the largest known impact basin in the solar system. The 240-kilogram robot is the core component of the Tianwen-1 mission, the country's first interplanetary adventure that created history by orbiting, landing and roving on Mars, all in its maiden attempt.
Zhurong is the sixth rover to move on the Martian surface after five from the United States. It is currently joined by Nasa's Perseverance rover and the Curiosity rover that are exploring the uninhabitable world looking for signs of ancient microbial life within the surface. The three rovers are separated by thousands of kilometres on the Red Planet.
China begins surveying Mars from above, Tianwen-1 to map topographic model
The orbiter has been circling the planet thrice every Martian day or Sol while relaying communication between Earth and the Zhurong rover on the ground.
