China has scripted history by successfully landing its Zhurong rover on the pre-designated area in Utopia Planitia on Mars. State-run Xinhua news agency confirmed this. Zhurong is the name of a fire god as per Chinese mythology. The Tianwen-1 Mars orbiter had brought the rover, and it is now on Mars. Its duration of stay on the red planet is tentatively three months. One of its missions is to search for evidence of lifeforms on the planet. CNN provides more information about the Chinese rover. It has six wheels, weighs 529lbs, relies on solar energy for power, and has various scientific instruments.
Zhurong will use these to carry out predefined activities. Obviously, this will be another application of Artificial Intelligence, robotics, and renewable energy. It isn't easy to visualize working on distant locations, millions of miles away, without the involvement of these three entities. The Mars orbiter Tianwen-1 has been there for the last three months. It was reconnoitering the landing area before releasing the rover to the surface. The orbiter will keep a watch on things for one year and relay instructions from ground control to Zhurong, the rover. The country is a relatively new entrant in the field of Space research. However, it has made rapid strides. In January 2019, China sent a probe to the far side of the moon.
It was a totally new concept.
China began its mission to Mars in July last year
The launch of Mars orbiter Tianwen-1 was from the Wenchang space launch center in Hainan on July 23 last year. Subsequently, it entered the orbit of Mars in February and has now released the rover Zhurong on the chosen site. CNN goes on to say that before its landing, the team behind the project was confident that Tianwen-1 would orbit, land, and release a rover all on the very first attempt.
The team said: "No planetary missions have ever been implemented in this way." Incidentally, China had a plan to launch a new space station in April. However, its Long March 5B rocket went out of control and plunged into the Indian Ocean. It might have to reassign new launch dates.
Three missions to Mars include China
China was one of three countries that sent missions to Mars last summer.
They are the United States of America, China, and the United Arab Emirates. The first to land on the red planet was NASA's Perseverance in February. Then followed Zhurong of China. As far as the UAE goes, its probe Hope will not land but would study the planet from orbit. America has an advantage over others because the American Space Agency NASA positioned its Curiosity rover on Mars way back in 2012. NASA has also positioned Ingenuity, a helicopter, there to capture aerial views.
On the Chinese mission, CNN says the task profile consists of gathering important information related to the topography of Mars. These would include the soil, geological structure, environment, and atmosphere. Such details would help to assess the nature of natural resources on the planet.
This would be on the agenda of all the countries because such discoveries would benefit the global community. Moreover, Zhurong would also try to find evidence of signs of water.
China is the third nation to land a rover on Mars
According to Wall Street Journal, China became one more nation to land a rover on the red planet. It is a step towards its goal of being at the forefront of space exploration.
The China National Space Administration confirms the safe landing of the Zhurong rover at the southern part of Mars. This is identified as Utopia Planitia and is a large plain. The landing was an automated process that lasted for 9 minutes. It relied on parachutes, retrorockets, and its blunt shape to decelerate and touch down.
