![]() ![]() Last month, China launched the first stage of its Tiangong space station, which next year is set to become the world’s second long-term home for humans in space. Its other feats include launching dozens of Long March rockets, each with multiple payloads, including that of the Chang'e 5 lunar probe, which brought Moon rocks back to Earth for the first time since the end of NASA’s Apollo program in the 1970s. The Tianwen-1 mission is just one of an impressive list of accomplishments by the China National Space Administration in the past year. This is an important study that will help address why Mars has lost much of its atmosphere, leaving its landscape so barren.Īs new probes reach Mars, here's what we know so far from trips to the red planet And, in a genuine first for Martian exploration, it is equipped with a magnetometer to measure the planet’s magnetic field. Zhurong will thus help build a more complete geological picture of the red planet’s history. Physical characteristics of the atmosphere and the rocky surface. Soil structure and possible presence of water iceĬhemical composition, minerals and rock types The mission is expected to survey four aspects of its local environmnet: Like the many Mars rovers before it, Zhurong will probe this alien planet’s environment, and search for signs of water ice on the surface. Although Zhurong is not at the cutting edge of current space exploration technology, the sheer speed of this program’s development since its initiation in 2006 is awe-inspiring.Ī replica of the Zhurong rover, on display in the National Museum, Beijing. Zhurong’s design, instruments and technology on board Zhurong are comparable to those on board NASA’s twin rovers Spirit and Opportunity, which touched down in January 2004. The 240-kilogram, six-wheeled rover is equipped with six individual scientific instruments, and has four large solar panels, giving it the appearance of a “blue butterfly”. The mission’s three-month scientific program will begin once the Zhurong rover disembarks from the landing craft and begins its journey across the martian surface. But the Zhurong rover should be well equipped to roam farther afield during its mission. The Viking 2 lander lacked the ability to investigate any further than its initial landing site. ![]() In 1976, NASA’s Viking 2 lander touched down further north within the Utopia Planitia basin, returning high-resolution images of the martian surface and analysing soil samples. Zhurong is not the first rover to explore this region. The surrounding area is largely featureless, covered mostly in volcanic material. This area of Mars was formed billions of years ago, when a martian meteorite smashed into the planet’s surface. ![]()
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