China's space probe sends back its first image of Mars

Tmcom · 2021-02-08 02:45:39

https://www.indiatoday.in/science/story … 2021-02-06

The quality is a bit lousy, which doens't give much hope of HD images on the surface, but they may stuffup more than JPL, and let something decent through.

SpaceNut · 2021-02-10 20:14:05

Thanks Th for the reminder...
Check out the first images of Mars from China’s Tianwen-1 probe

The five-ton craft carries an orbiter, a lander, and a 530-pound rover. After entering orbit, it will begin a landing attempt with the aim to place the rover on the surface in the massive impact basin Utopia Planitia.

Mars_B4_Moon · 2021-05-15 18:29:09

Probe dropped a Spacecraft with Rover. Spacecraft successfully lands on Mars. The six-wheeled Zhurong robot was targeting Utopia Planitia, a vast terrain in the planet's northern hemisphere. The Rover was given a name from Chinese myth, Zhurong, which means God of Fire, was carried to Mars on the Tianwen-1 orbiter.

The Chinese Rover will leave the Robotic Lander platform on the 22nd of this month to begin its exploration of Mars?
https://m.weibo.cn/detail/4637113372643057

maybe someone can translate the rest

tahanson43206 · 2021-05-15 18:59:00

For Mars_B4_Moon re #3

Thank you for the link to the Chinese site! Google Translate does a reasonably good job ...

Here is a snippet I found interesting ...

IMCOSMOS2
Electric dust removal technology

I suspect this is just someone with a vivid imagination posting in a public chat stream ...

However, what it ** does ** do is to awaken (at least ** my ** awareness) that such a thing might be possible.

Another commentor suggested the photocell layers may have a non-stick surface to try to encourage dust not to adhere.

That too may have been just a commentor posting to a public chat stream.

(th)

SpaceNut · 2021-05-15 19:56:47

China Lands Spacecraft on Mars for First Time, Plans Hook-up with US Vehicle

china-has-landed-a-spacecraft-on-mars-for-the-first-time-delivering-a-water-hunting-rover-to-the-red-planet

Mars_B4_Moon · 2021-05-17 13:52:30

Data Relay
https://www.leonarddavid.com/china-mars … -planitia/

Landing coordinates 109.9E, 25.1N.
https://twitter.com/MarsZhurong/status/ … 7317857283

Observed by hamradio satellite guys
https://destevez.net/2021/05/tianwen-1-landing/

The Tianwen 1 mission (meaning “questions to the heavens” in Chinese) is an ambitious, all-in-one package including orbiter, lander and rover — a first for any space agency.
https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-n … s-on-mars/
Zhurong’s primary mission will last about three months. The solar-powered rover is equipped with six science packages, including a laser spectrometer, a climate weather package, a magnetometer, imagers, and ground-penetrating radar. One of the main goals for Zhurong is to search for subsurface water ice on Mars, providing “ground truth” from its landing site while the Tianwen 1 orbiter searches for the same from its higher vantage point.

Why land the spacecraft in Utopia Planitia?

Utopia Planitia was chosen as the landing region for several reasons. One obvious reason is related to engineering. The site is relatively safe and flat, which was desirable to facilitate to safe landing. People say there is no such thing as "minor surgery" and a similar truth holds in space exploration: there is no such thing as a routine space mission. Without a safe landing, there are no scientific questions to answer. This site was chosen to help maximize success, and that strategy has proven to be a smart one.
https://astronomycommunity.nature.com/p … ight-the-z

The other reasons Utopia Planitia was chosen as the landing area are scientific in origin. For one, all of Utopia lies topographically below hypothesized shorelines of an ancient ocean (Citron et al, 2018). The question of whether the northern plains of Mars contained an ancient ocean is a complex one, with various pieces of evidence in some contradiction with each other. The story is an interesting one, but it is beyond the scope of this article. Most importantly, it is critical to point out that scientists generally do not expect to find seafloor deposits at this landing site because regardless of whether there was an ancient ocean covering this area or not, there has certainly been significant more youthful geological activity that has covered it up.

Younger geologic processes certainly have included volcanism. In fact, Mars is a volcanic planet and most of the surface has been covered by lava and ash with a bulk composition similar to the basaltic rocks found in Hawaii or Iceland. It is also true that most of the volcanic materials covering Mars have been modified by other geologic processes, and that is true in this case as well. In Utopia Planitia, it seems that the surface has been churned up by a broad category of processes that can be lumped together and referred to as periglacial processes. In other words, the surface has been modified by ice-related processes similar to what occurs in northern Canada or Siberia.

One striking element of the periglacial nature of this terrain is the presence of patterned ground containing polygonal fractures (see the topmost "poster" image of this article returned from ESA's High Resolution Stereo Camera or HRSC showing polygons in Utopia Planitia). These patterns are though to form by sublimation of subsurface water ice.

In fact, there is strong evidence for subsurface ice in Utopia Planitia. Aside from inferring its past existence from geomorphology or the presence of certain landforms, we can also search for its presence in the present day using radar. Indeed radar measurements show evidence for abundant subsurface ice present throughout Utopia, perhaps >14,000 km3 (Sturman et al, 2016). The significance of water ice currently existing in the subsurface goes far beyond pure scientific curiosity. In fact, accessible water ice on Mars is like finding a gold mine of sorts on Earth though the economics are totally different. The point is that all future human exploration or Mars will rely on our ability to mine water resources robotically in advance of a human landing. H2O will not only be used to support astronauts and hopefully a future space colony, the water will be split into its fundamental components which can then be recombined as rocket fuel. Rocket fuel for a return to Earth is far to heavy to bring with, so it will have to be made on Mars.

Last edited by Mars_B4_Moon (2021-05-18 12:53:33)

Mars_B4_Moon · 2021-05-20 15:43:37

Pix of landing
https://twitter.com/TheMarsSociety/stat … 2180183040
Space agency of China releases photos

China is banned from the ISS, while Europe, Brazil, Japan, Russia and the United States use the Space Station. Now the Chinese have released High resolution images from the surface of Mars. There might be some type of Water under the soil and seem to be different types of rocks in the immediate vicinity of the lander, the Zhurong Rover has interesting science instruments. I hear rumors they have taken scientists from the Lunar Exploration Mission and Chang'e program to give more attention on Mars, there is also a Rover currently in operation on the Lunar surface but Moon is on hold while China gives Mars its full attention?

there might be other types of soils and sands and clays, different rocks and perhaps crater rim here on Mars next to the Rover.

Does the Rover have some kind of A.I software, perhaps by itself move using the avoidance cam and photos just as NASA gave its Rovers a level of intelligence?

The first guys building a human base on Mars perhaps wont be people, maybe it will probably be Robots and Artificial Diggers working hard to make a base before the Arrival of people

Last edited by Mars_B4_Moon (2021-05-20 15:44:28)

louis · 2021-05-20 17:25:51

Space X are planning robot landings before human landings so the base on Mars will be begun robotically.

China is copying Space X's Starship. What a surprise.

I have always been of the view that China sees Space X and the Mars Mission as a major threat to their hegemony on Earth...the idea there could be this outpost of free enterprise and free speech on Mars is anathema to them.

Mars_B4_Moon wrote:

Pix of landing
https://twitter.com/TheMarsSociety/stat … 2180183040
Space agency of China releases photos
China is banned from the ISS, while Europe, Brazil, Japan, Russia and the United States use the Space Station. Now the Chinese have released High resolution images from the surface of Mars. There might be some type of Water under the soil and seem to be different types of rocks in the immediate vicinity of the lander, the Zhurong Rover has interesting science instruments. I hear rumors they have taken scientists from the Lunar Exploration Mission and Chang'e program to give more attention on Mars, there is also a Rover currently in operation on the Lunar surface but Moon is on hold while China gives Mars its full attention?
there might be other types of soils and sands and clays, different rocks and perhaps crater rim here on Mars next to the Rover.
Does the Rover have some kind of A.I software, perhaps by itself move using the avoidance cam and photos just as NASA gave its Rovers a level of intelligence?
The first guys building a human base on Mars perhaps wont be people, maybe it will probably be Robots and Artificial Diggers working hard to make a base before the Arrival of people

Mars_B4_Moon · 2021-05-27 11:26:07

China should celebrate its Mars success by sharing

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/20 … mars-data/

Mars_B4_Moon · 2021-05-28 08:26:14

The Chinese solar-powered Mars rover is now driving on the red planet
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/china-mars … 021-05-22/

'It is expected to be deployed for a minimum of 90 days to search of evidence of current or past life on the Red Planet.'
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech … -time.html

China Seen Expanding Military Capability in Space, but not Yet on Mars or the Moon
https://www.voanews.com/east-asia-pacif … rs-or-moon

SpaceNut · 2021-05-28 13:14:29

They have proven that with the lunar rover that they know how to make the most of a vehicles ability of design to last the cold of the moon so its most likely the same for this rover and it will last way longer than 90 days....

Mars_B4_Moon · 2021-05-28 13:35:16

China's 'bold breakthroughs' in space go beyond Mars and the moon
https://www.itv.com/news/2021-05-28/chi … d-the-moon

China's solar-powered Mars rover is now driving on the red planet
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/china-mars … 021-05-22/

Is there a Mars Society in China?

I imagine there will be more robotic missions to come but I wonder if they will have a plan for manned flights

I seen a display of a Mars base on social media with Zubrin tagged
This might translate as something like -

The Beijing Mars Company base will open June! Welcome to Mars! To the delight of the city manager, Welcome to the 'Mars McGowan Aurora Base' in Utopia Plantia
https://twitter.com/AngelaOCISLY/status … 76/photo/4

They mention 'sanlitun' which I believe is an area of the Chinese city with Cinemas and Apple computer stores, a 'three village' city area of shopping, entertainment, electronics, they also tagged Robert Zubrin's name.
Beijing CBD = central business district
When you see these displays at shopping malls etc I wonder is the government making some statement about future missions.

Last edited by Mars_B4_Moon (2021-05-29 02:58:58)

SpaceNut · 2021-05-28 16:34:02

http://www.marssociety.org.cn/

https://www.facebook.com/TheMarsSocietyInChina

Mars_B4_Moon · 2021-06-07 05:05:57

Thanks for that SpaceNut

I believe the Orbiter Tianwen-1 in an 8.2-hour orbit to act as better communications relay but they still have low bandwith levels for transmission to the Orbiter and Earth.

more news
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2021-0 … 994039.htm
The China National Space Administration (CNSA) Monday released a new image taken by the Tianwen-1 probe, showing the country's first Mars rover and its landing platform on the red planet's surface.
In the image, taken by a high-resolution camera installed on the orbiter of Tianwen-1 at 6 p.m. on June 2 (Beijing Time), two bright spots are visible in the upper right corner. The larger one is the landing platform, and the smaller one is the Zhurong Mars rover, the CNSA said.

China's first Mars mission Tianwen1 sends back high resolution images of its landing platform, Mars rover Zhurong and the red planet.
https://twitter.com/ChinaObserver2/stat … 9168467971

Location for the Zhurong Rover from older Orbital Camera photos!
https://twitter.com/Peter_Grindrod/stat … 9215457281

Un-Official - I make it '25.066N, 109.926E'.

Seem they have instructed the Rover to move with guardedness and very conservatively, it only seems to have moved a few meters after moving off the Lander.
In our 'Martian Calender' topic - 'Sol 112 is in Month 04 of a Proposed 24 month calendar.'
Photo taken on 2nd day of the month of June ...now what's that in Mars time?

Last edited by Mars_B4_Moon (2021-06-07 07:42:01)

Mars_B4_Moon · 2021-06-10 03:32:43

MRO has higher definition

The Chinese rover making a slight move in 4 days since the TW-1 orbiter photos

https://www.uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_069665_2055

The bright curving features are aeolian (windblown) landforms.

The lander’s parachute & backshell as well as its heat shield are also visible.

Mars_B4_Moon · 2021-06-11 09:29:38

News groups, Chinese Embassy in Greece and social media accounts have been posting new pix

Some interesting panorama photos, lots of interesting features
but they also kind of look like PR propaganda photos as they get shots of the Chinese flag, there are also comments about scinece in school and 'patriotic education'
You see a kind of a 'family portrait' of the craft from ground level on Mars.

https://twitter.com/SegerYu/status/1403182448641404932

AndrewJones from SpaceNews seems to be a good source on China science news, there's also an interesting watcher account following their rovers, stations and rockets
https://twitter.com/CNSAWatcher
https://twitter.com/AJ_FI/status/1403295840375017479

You see in the official pix released maybe hills perhaps mountain, dune or create features, you can see a nearby parachute and its backshell. People on social media are playing with colors, stitching different pix together and making their own mosaic montage tyope art photo, or doing an amateur scientific circular view of the landing site.
China will scan Utopia Planitia for signs of water or ice that could lend clues as to whether Mars ever sustained life, some people speculate if they find waters then the Chinese Agency might consider it as a place for a future manned mission. There is also talk about the launched Tianhe and the Taingong or Tianzhou or Space Station and talk about a future telescope mission and possible gravity particles or ' gravitational waves'. The Mars Rover has other instruments such as a 'climate detector', subsurface radar, magnetic field detectors.

Rover put down a camera so maybe there is no camera on the lander
https://t.bilibili.com/534888969281031676?tab=2

The Rover seems to have dropped some kind of camera to make its own selfie (in Chinese language)
https://9ifly.spacety.com/forum.php?mod … #pid851386

This conversation seems to be 'social media' some of these news items, they do not seem to be offical media accounts but online users on Chinese social media

My Chinese isnt good so I'm running this through an online translator they say something like -
This is an Inspection of Lander Photo
Mars rover front and rear obstacle avoidance camera - trajectory of the zhurong movement is illustrated?

Jurong Rover moved South of the landing platform, a split camera captured the rover's movements and took the rover's photo with the landing platform. The images were transmitted wirelessly to the rover then relayed to the ground/Earth? via 'relay'. Some of the rocks if I recall right look kinda similar to the ones from the NASA JPL 'Spirit' 2004 to 2010 mission and Perseverance 2020-current lander sites.

Rover has travelled over 80 m or 262 feet so far, most of the movement seems to be circles of the Lander itself. They also took photos of the cartoon painted mascots for the previous 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, cartoons which were painted on the Lander.
The Zhurong placed a remote camera about 33 feet (10 metres) from the landing platform, then withdrew to take a group portrait

Scene stitched together as a video to click on from a Weibo Steed online user account
https://720yun.com/t/d9vktq8wprm?scene_id=73950360
Interactive Panorama of 360 degrees.

China reveals photos taken by Mars rover
https://www.marsdaily.com/reports/China … r_999.html

A fabric Chinese national flag and a monochromic drawing of mascots of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympic Winter Games are noticeable in the landing platform's picture.

Also in this photo, the tracks of Zhurong on the surface can be clearly seen

' Zhang Kejian, director of the administration, said at the ceremony that China will share scientific findings from its space missions with other nations to benefit all people around the world.
As of Friday, Zhurong has been working on the Red Planet for 28 Martian days to carry out scientific exploration.
The robot is now hundreds of million kilometers from the Earth. It is the sixth rover on Mars, following five others launched by the United States.
With an expected lifespan of at least 90 Martian days, the 240-kilogram Zhurong is tasked with surveying Mars' landforms, geological structures, soil characteristics, potential locations of water and ice, and atmospheric and environmental traits, as well as magnetic, gravitational and other physical fields.'

Last edited by Mars_B4_Moon (2021-06-11 09:58:32)

Mars_B4_Moon · 2021-06-11 15:17:33

Chinese Rover Captures Unique Selfie on Mars
https://gizmodo.com/china-s-new-rover-c … 1847080458

China's First Space Station Crew Launch Next Week to Live on Module That Could Outlast ISS
https://www.newsweek.com/chinas-first-s … ss-1599428
Rocket on pad, China ready to send 1st crew to space station
https://www.ctvnews.ca/sci-tech/rocket- … -1.5464132

China releases new images of Mars taken by its Zhurong rover
https://nypost.com/2021/06/11/china-rel … ong-rover/

Mars_B4_Moon · 2021-06-14 06:48:15

Liu Jianjun, chief designer of the ground application system of the Tianwen-1 probe, told CGTN that it's decided that Zhurong would head south from its landing spot. https://news.cgtn.com/news/2021-06-12/C … index.html China’s Tianwen-1 Mars mission is a precursor to the country attempting a sample return effort at the Red Planet https://www.leonarddavid.com/china-blue … -missions/ Rover will move southwards to observe and survey mud volcanoes and troughs. http://www.ecns.cn/news/2021-06-14/deta … 7903.shtml "We selected this particular direction for several reasons. The altitude picks up that way, from the ancient martian ocean to land. And that's also where we'll come across some of the most interesting things we care about, like mud volcanoes and sub-surface ice."

SpaceNut · 2021-06-19 19:51:55

"Tianwen 1's landing site is on the southern part of the Utopia Planitia China's Mars rover Zhurong will continue moving southward to explore the Red Planet, focusing on key scientific issues, such as potential locations of water and ice, as well as volcanic activities, according to a project leader.

Mars_B4_Moon · 2021-06-29 13:11:35

Photos in 360 view, a 360° panorama Created by Thomas APPERE
https://www.360cities.net/image/sunset- … anita-mars

Rough online Chinese Translation - 'View of the parachute and landing platform on the Panorama photos'
https://twitter.com/TheElegant055/statu … 8145530882
Parachute deployment, upper shield jettison
https://twitter.com/raz_liu/status/1408958199764455427
Track is clearly visible, seen by NASA's s HiRise
https://twitter.com/AJ_FI/status/1408108865728794625
Driving https://twitter.com/yongxiong2008/statu … 4550354946 Film https://twitter.com/ScienceLinkCN/statu … 7245220865

Newly released videos show scenes from China's first mission to Mars
https://news.yahoo.com/newly-released-v … 02490.html

Chinese planning to send its first crewed mission to Mars in 2033 ?
https://twitter.com/TheMarsSociety/stat … 8291436544

Last edited by Mars_B4_Moon (2021-06-29 15:30:05)

Mars_B4_Moon · 2021-12-29 09:17:56

Andrew Jones
https://twitter.com/AJ_FI/status/1476111571034247168

'The first results from Tianwen-1's Mars Ion and Neutral Particle Analyzer have been published (despite nearly half of MINPA's ion field-of-view being blocked by the Zhurong capsule for a good portion of the time).'
http://eppcgs.xml-journal.net/

Mars_B4_Moon · 2022-03-21 14:58:04

NASA can see what their Rover is aiming for

It seems to be going almost directly South while avoiding white arcs or sand dunes on the ground

'Astounding view of the Zhurong rover's travels in Utopia Planitia taken by the HiRise camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Image was captured from 288 km above Mars on March 11
https://twitter.com/AJ_FI/status/1504905964817981440

China plans more planetary endeavors: scientist
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/202203 … 4af/c.html

Wu Weiren, the chief designer of China's lunar exploration program, said the country's deep space exploration will continue and its Mars mission will be followed by the Tianwen-2, Tianwen-3, and Tianwen-4.

The main task of the follow-ups is to explore the asteroids in deep space and bring asteroid samples back to Earth, Wu said in a recent interview.
He also disclosed future plans including explorations of Venus and asteroids in deep space. "We will carry out early warnings for asteroids that may pose a threat to human beings and may hit Earth," Wu said.

Last edited by Mars_B4_Moon (2022-03-21 15:01:16)

Mars_B4_Moon · 2022-05-07 09:50:03

Updated track estimation of the Chinese Mars rover Zhurong
https://twitter.com/TheElegant055/statu … 6647076864

A rare update from Tianwen-1, including 1. An image of Triolet crater taken April 17 by HiRIC (hi-res) cam and 2. a landform in Valles Marineris from MoRIC
https://twitter.com/AJ_FI/status/1522461426010443776

China is set to embark on SIX space missions in 2022 to complete the in-orbit construction of its space station, said China Manned Space Agency at a news conference
https://twitter.com/ScienceLinkCN/statu … 0310682627

'Chinese startup plans rocket launch and landing this year'
https://twitter.com/SPACEdotcom/status/ … 0503821319

Last edited by Mars_B4_Moon (2022-05-07 09:54:21)

Mars_B4_Moon · 2022-05-12 02:58:59

China's Tianwen-1 just uncovered evidence of ancient liquid water on Mars

https://interestingengineering.com/liqu … ce-on-mars

'hydrated sulfate/silica materials on the Amazonian terrain at the landing site.'

So who is going to land there, lay claim and stick a flag in it, Russia seems out of the game, Japan is still there but has fallen back, the ESA confused with the Soyuz banned from Guiana no ExoMars and sanctions on a Kazachok lander,
so it seems we have 3 players that could make use of this site, will it be the US or China or the US Private sector Musk?

SpaceNut · 2022-05-13 18:52:23

rover-discovers-water-on-mars

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China's space probe sends back its first image of Mars

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