Casual Discussion China releases new images of Mars taken by its Zhurong rover

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China releases new images of Mars taken by its Zhurong rover

https://www.cnn.com/profiles/jessie-yeung
By Jessie Yeung, CNN

Updated 8:06 AM ET, Fri June 11, 2021

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China's Zhurong rover (center) explores the surface of Mars.

(CNN)China unveiled new photos of its Mars rover exploring the surface of the red planet on Friday, with state media hailing it as a sign of the mission's "complete success."
The Zhurong rover, named after a god of fire in Chinese mythology, landed on the Utopia Planitia region of Mars on May 15. This is China's first Mars mission -- making it only the second country to land a rover on the planet, after the United States.

The rover sent back its first images of Mars in May, several days after landing, showing a deployed ramp and the flat landscape where it arrived.

The new photos this Friday included a 360-degree panorama of the landing area, stitched together from a number of images the rover took after landing before it began driving through the area, according to state-run news agency Xinhua. Another image showed the orange Martian surface, with scattered rocks, a circular crater on the far side, and dunes in the distance.

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The rover's lander displays China's flag.

A third image shows the Chinese flag near the landing platform. The rover also took a selfie using a wireless camera, showing its extended solar panels and a tiny Chinese flag emblazoned on its equipment.
The six-wheel solar-powered rover is intended to last three months, during which it will search for signs or evidence of ancient life on Mars' surface. While the rover explores the planet, its orbiter is also conducting scientific detection operations.

"China will publish the related scientific data in a timely manner to let humankind share in the fruits of the country's space exploration development," said Zhang Kejian, head of China's national space agency, in the Xinhua report.
China's Mars mission succeeded in entering the planet's orbit and landing a rover that could traverse the Martian surface in one go. It took NASA multiple missions to complete those challenging steps, albeit decades before China, between 1971 and 1997.

China launched its Tianwen-1 probe, carrying Zhurong and other equipment, last July along with two other international Mars missions: NASA's Perseverance rover and the United Arab Emirates' Hope Probe.
All three missions launched around the same time due to an alignment between Mars and the Earth on the same side of the sun, making for a more efficient journey to the red planet.

While Zhurong is not as technologically advanced as NASA's Perseverance, which is also currently roving Mars, its presence sends a clear signal that China's space capabilities are catching up with those of the US.
Chinese astronauts have long been excluded from the International Space Station -- and one of the country's ambitions is to build its own space station. In April, it took a step closer to that goal, successfully launching the first module of the planned facility.

The core module is currently the largest spacecraft developed by China. But the station will need to be assembled from several modules launching at different times; the station could be fully operational by the end of 2022, according to Chinese state media.

 

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NASA Mars orbiter grabs dramatic first view of China's elusive rover​

China's historic Tianwen-1 mission lander and rover star in a fresh Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter view.

Amanda Kooser
http://www.twitter.com/akooser
June 10, 2021 4:51 p.m. PT

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China's Tianwen-1 lander and Zhurong rover (lower dot) are visible in this NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter image from June 6.
NASA/JPL/UArizona


It's a rover-fest on Mars. Curiosity and Perseverance are sharing the planet with China's Zhurong rover, which a NASA spacecraft in orbit around the red planet spotted down on the Martian surface on June 6.

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has already captured remarkable views of Curiosity and Perseverance, but this is its first look at Zhurong, part of the the China National Space Administration (CNSA) Tianwen-1 mission. Tianwen-1 consists of an orbiter, a lander and the rover.

"Clearly visible are what we interpret as the lander surrounded by a blast pattern, and the rover itself a bit to the south after it descended from the lander," said the MRO HiRise camera team at the University of Arizona in a statement on Thursday.

Zhurong landed in mid-May, making China only the second country to operate a rover on Mars. The MRO image matches up well with a view from the Tianwen-1 orbiter released by CNSA earlier this week.

The rover is in a plains region of Mars. "This image shows the surrounding terrain to be very typical of southern Utopia Planitia, with a smooth and mostly boulder-free region," the HiRise team said. "The bright curving features are aeolian (windblown) landforms."

China has released few images from the Tianwen-1 mission overall, in contrast to NASA's constant feed of Mars images available to the public. We have seen a few snaps from the surface, however, including a look at Zhurong's wheel tracks after if descended from the lander in May.

The lack of images can be frustrating for space fans, so NASA's view of Zhurong's adventures on the red planet is a welcome addition to the sparse Tianwen-1 photo collection.
 

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China wants to build a sustainable human presence on Mars. Here's how.​

By Andrew Jones about 5 hours ago

China is looking at the ways of getting astronauts to Mars and back safely and potentially establishing a long-term presence on the Red Planet.


That's according to a senior Chinese space industry official speaking Wednesday (June 16) at the Global Space Exploration (GLEX) conference taking place in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Wang Xiaojing, president of the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT), told the conference audience via a previously recorded speech that China is researching the best options for sustainable human missions to Mars.

Noting the recent successful landing of the Tianwen-1 Mars rover Zhurong, Wang stated that China has bigger plans, beyond even a Mars sample return mission planned to launch in early 2029.


These and other, unspecified robotic missions to Mars, including in-situ resource utilization tests — for example extracting subsurface water from beneath the surface or generating oxygen — are intended to build a platform for initial human missions, starting with an orbital outpost, then landing on the planet's surface and finally constructing a Mars base.


The third and final stage envisions forming a so-called "econosphere," facilitated by a large-scale Earth-to-Mars fleet, large-scale development and utilization of resources.


Wang revealed that CALT, which belongs to China's main space contractor, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), has completed comprehensive research on mission architecture. This includes looking at the available launch times, the types of orbits the spacecraft can use to get to Mars and the propulsion system best suited to allow short- and long-term stays and regular, repeated visits.

The initial robotic phase of China's exploration plans would rely on chemical rockets, the propulsion used today for launches. Early human missions would use a number of heavy-lift launchers to construct the Mars spacecraft in orbit, Wang said. These would then rendezvous and dock with a ferry stage using nuclear electric and nuclear thermal propulsion for Earth-Mars transfer. Cargo would fly to and land on Mars separately, and a Mars descent and ascent vehicle (MDAV) would transfer astronauts to and from the surface, he added.

Nuclear technologies would allow a large decrease in the size of the Earth-Mars transfer vehicles. This method of propulsion has been discussed and researched for decades but still requires a number of technological breakthroughs and its prospective use have typically been met with environmental concerns.

Nuclear fusion propulsion and space elevator technology were also considered but require both theoretical and technological breakthroughs.


The econosphere phase envisions developing reusable fleets of spacecraft, propellant depots for refueling spacecraft in Mars orbit, and the use of cycle orbits, a concept previously put forward by Buzz Aldrin.

The plan presented by Wang is both ambitious but also at a very early stage. CALT makes many of China's Long March rockets and deals only with the ideas for propulsion.

Wang delivered his pre-recorded talk as CALT is preparing for the launch of the Shenzhou 12 mission, which is scheduled to launch three astronauts to China's new Tianhe space station today (June 16) at 9:22 p.m. EDT (0122 June 17 GMT; 9:22 a.m. June 17 local time in Beijing).

The plan does not consider the challenges of sending humans on long journeys through deep space, including radiation and the effects of microgravity. Other Chinese space institutes would work on these challenges. The plan does however include some aspects already in development, including a new-generation crew spacecraft.

No timeline for embarking on crewed Mars missions was mentioned. China is currently aiming for crewed missions to the moon in the 2030s, so crewed Mars missions will be much further off.

 

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