A Mars rover robot named Zhurong in the coming days.
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, BEIJING – China said it would land a Mars explorer robot named Zhurong in the coming days.
The six-wheeled Zhurong robot will target the Utopia Planitia, a vast terrain in the planet’s northern hemisphere. The vehicle will use a combination of a protective capsule, parachute and rocket platform to descend.
A successful landing will be a remarkable achievement. So far only America has really mastered the landing on Mars.
China’s National Space Administration (CNSA) said the effort would be carried out sometime from the morning of May 15 to May 19, Beijing time. BBC, Saturday (15/5).
Zhurong was brought to Mars by the Tianwen-1 orbiter, which arrived on the planet in February.
During that time spent observing Utopia, taking high-resolution images to show you the safest place to place.
The aim of all such endeavors is to select a place, as far as possible, that is devoid of large craters and boulders.
Whenever an attempt is made, Chinese engineers have to follow events after events. The current distance to Mars is 320 million km, which means radio messages take nearly 18 minutes to reach Earth.
Each stage of Zhurong’s approach to the surface must be managed independently. Enter (into the atmosphere), descent and landing strategy following a familiar architecture.
At the chosen moment, the explorer, wrapped in an aeroshell, will be released from the Tianwen orbit and dive down.
The heat shield on the capsule will slow the fall by pushing Martian air. A parachute will then open to reduce speed even further. Finally, the robot will detach itself on the rocket-powered bench to perform maneuvers that bring it to the ground.
This is a daunting challenge, but China has recently demonstrated great competence in its space endeavors, including placing two explorers on the Moon.
If Zhurong manages to descend, scientists will try to get at least 90 days to study the local geology. One day, or Sol, on Mars lasts 24 hours and 39 minutes.
The robot is very similar to the Spirit and Opportunity vehicle belonging to the American space agency (NASA) from the 2000s. It weighs about 240kg and is powered by a folding solar panel.
A high mast carrying a camera to take pictures and assisting with navigation of five additional instruments will help assess local rock mineralogy and search for water ice underground.
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