China Space Record: Zhurong Rover Lands on Mars
China Space Record: Zhurong Rover Lands on Mars
By Jaisuria Satish Babu
By Jaisuria Satish Babu
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China's Zhurong Rover's victory is seen as crucial as it will be very difficult to land on Mars. So far only Americans have had more experience landing on Mars. China is proud to be the second country to launch a rover on Tuesday as the Zhurong Rover landed.
Chinese President Xi Jinping praised the achievements of the Zhurong Rover team in a separate message. "You were brave enough for the challenge, pursued excellence, and placed our country in the advanced ranks of planetary exploration," he said.
The spacecraft officially landed at 7:18 am Beijing time on Saturday, state media said. It took 17 minutes for the Zhurong rover's solar panels to expand. Only then did the Zhurong rover send a signal to Earth. Zhurong means fire god. The rover Tianwen-1 orbited Mars on February 1. Since then the spacecraft has been taking clear photos and exploring the Utopia area to find a safe place for the Zhurong rover to land. The Chinese engineers had to carry out the task of landing the Zhurong Rover at intervals.
The current distance between Earth and Mars is 54.6 million kilometers. This means that it will take about 18 minutes for the news to go from Earth to Mars by radio. Therefore, all subsequent complex missions of the Zhurong rover landing on Mars must take place spontaneously. It had to happen one by one as it entered the atmosphere of Mars, slowly descending towards the ground and landing. The Zhurong rover was detached from the Tianwen-1 rover at the selected time. The shield that protects the Zhurong rover from the heat was the first to slow down. A parachute was then opened and the rover slowly came to land. The rover was finally landed on Mars by a robot.
This is a complex challenge, but China has been showing its potential in the space sector for the past few years. That includes the recent landing of two rovers on the moon. Scientists will use the Zhurong rover to land on Mars for at least 90 days to study the geological structure of Mars. A day or a sol on Mars is 24 hours, 39 minutes, and 35 seconds.
The Zhurong Rover engine is similar to NASA's Spirit and Opportunity vehicle launched in 2004. It weighs about 240 kilograms. The energy for this comes from solar panels. The cameras are mounted on a high pole-like structure. With it, you can shoot and guide. In addition, five additional pieces of equipment are fitted with this Zhurong rover. It can be used to explore rocks on Mars and to see if there are underwater ice caps.
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