The recent landing of China’s Tianwen-1 spacecraft on Mars has placed the country in the spotlight. With the successful deployment of its first-ever Mars rover, Zhurong, China becomes the third country to achieve this feat following the United States and Soviet Union. This accomplishment is especially significant in light of China’s previous unsuccessful Mars mission, Yinghuo-1, which failed to leave Earth’s orbit back in 2012.
Details of the Tianwen-1 Mission
Launched in July 2020 from the Wenchang launch center, Tianwen-1 embarked on its mission aboard a Long March 5 rocket. The spacecraft is composed of three sections – the orbiter, the lander, and the rover. These components separated in Mars’ orbit, with the orbiter staying behind for scientific operations and signal relaying, while the lander and rover proceeded to descend autonomously.
Eventually, Tianwen-1 successfully landed on Utopia Planitia, a large plain in Mars’ northern hemisphere. Its mission objectives include studying the planet’s soil, geological structure, environment, atmosphere, and water. Notably, this mission will be the first to place a ground-penetrating radar on the Martian surface, allowing detailed studies of local geology and distribution of rock, ice, and dirt.
Other Chinese Space Programmes and Mars Missions
China’s space ambitions don’t stop at Mars. Other notable programs in their repertoire include Chang’e-5, a project aimed at the Moon, and Tianhe, a planned permanent Space Station.
The other countries also have ongoing Mars missions, such as NASA’s Perseverance Rover, UAE’s Hope Mars Mission, and India’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) also known as Mangalyaan, which was launched in November 2013 with the main goal of studying Martian surface and mineral composition and scanning its atmosphere for methane, an indicator of potential life on Mars.
Mars: A Brief Overview
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and second-smallest in the Solar system. It is approximately half the size of the Earth and shares a few features with our planet. Mars takes 24.6 hours to complete a rotation, which is only slightly longer than a day on Earth (23.9 hours).
The axial tilt of Mars is 25 degrees, close to Earth’s tilt of 23.4 degrees. Thus, Mars experiences distinct seasons like Earth, albeit they last longer due to its longer orbital period. A day on Mars, also known as a ‘sol,’ stands for ‘solar day.’
Distinct Features of Mars
Known as the Red Planet, Mars sports a reddish appearance due to the oxidation, or rusting, of iron present inits rocks and dust. Mars also boasts some unique geological features such as Olympus Mons, the largest volcano in the solar system and hosts two small moons, Phobos and Deimos.
