"Each stage has only one chance, and the actions were very connected. If there was a malfunction, the landing would have failed," said one of the members of the mission team
BEIJING, May 15 — The lander carrying China's first Mars rover successfully landed on the Red Planet early Saturday morning Beijing time.
This is the first time that China has landed a probe on a planet other than Earth.
Tianwen-1, which includes a rover, a lander and a ground vehicle, was launched from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site on the coast of south China's Hainan Island Province on July 23, 2020. It was the first step in China's exploration of the planets of the solar system, with the goal of completing the orbit, landing and a trip to Mars in one mission.
The name Tianwen, which means questions to the heavens, originates from a poem written by the ancient Chinese poet Chu Yuan (about 340-278 BC). China's first Mars rover was named Zhurong after the god of fire in ancient Chinese mythology, which corresponds to the Chinese name of the Red Planet: Huaxing (fire planet).
The spacecraft entered orbit around Mars in February after a nearly seven-month journey in space, and for more than two months surveyed possible landing sites.
Three months in a parking lane
In the early hours of Saturday, the spacecraft began to descend from its parking orbit, and the entry capsule containing the lander and vehicle separated from the spacecraft at approximately 4:00 am.
After a flight of about three hours, the entry capsule sped toward Mars and entered its atmosphere at an altitude of 125 km, beginning the most dangerous phase of the entire mission.
First, the specially designed aerodynamic shape of the entry capsule was slowed by the friction of the Martian atmosphere. When the speed of the spacecraft was reduced from 4.8 km per second to about 460 meters per second, a huge parachute with an area of approximately 200 square meters opened to continue reducing the speed to less than 100 meters per second.
So the spacecraft's parachute and outer shield were jettisoned, exposing the lander and vehicle, and the lander's braking rocket was activated to further slow its speed to nearly zero.
At a height of about 100 meters above the Martian surface, the spacecraft hovered to detect obstacles and measured the slopes of the ground surface. To avoid the obstacles, she chose a relatively flat area, descended slowly and safely touched the ground with her four shock-absorbing legs.
The spacecraft's dive through the Martian atmosphere, which lasted about nine minutes, was very complex without ground control, and had to be carried out by the spacecraft autonomously, said Geng Yan, who is in charge of CNSA's Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center.
"Each stage has only one chance, and the actions were very connected. If there was a malfunction, the landing would have failed," Gang said.
More of the topic in Hayadan:
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Peace
Are there any updates from the Chinese on the Mars landing?
Neither NASA nor the Chinese got anywhere. They are all liars. Where is his video and he is flying in space and where is the space and where is the landing?
there why are you smart? The article specifically talked about planets, and the moon is not like that.
A planet with an atmosphere
The Chinese landed a probe on the moon and also returned a soil sample from the moon to the earth. So this is not the first time that China has landed a probe on a place that is not the earth
Any decision regarding the movement of a flying vehicle (drone, lander) on Mars that is made while in motion must be autonomous, because by the time it arrives from the control center on Earth, it will no longer be relevant.
Currently there are only illustrations. I guess they will post pictures. The Chinese are not as fast as NASA
It is joyful and exciting to live in an era when man first leaves his planet. A journey to Alpha Centauri also begins with one Yuri Gagarin
Image?