Landing the Zhurong rover on Mars is a major achievement for China, as it is very challenging to land here due to the environment of Mars.
China’s rover will land on Mars (pic- CNSA)
China (China) successfully landed its Zhurong Rover on the surface of the planet Mars on Saturday morning. The country’s government media gave information about this on Saturday morning. The six-wheeled Zhurong rover will begin its mission in the Utopia Planitia of Mars, a vast landmass located in the northern hemisphere of the planet. Rover used protective capsules, a parachute and a rocket platform for landing on Mars.
Landing the rover on Mars is a major achievement for Beijing, because it is very challenging to land here due to the atmosphere of Mars. America has been the only country which has so far mastered landing on Mars. With this landing, China has become the second country to land a rover on Mars. Zhurong means ‘god of fire’. The Zhurong rover was taken to Mars via the Tianwen-1 orbiter, which reached the planet in February.
Survey for the location of the landing for about 2.5 months
Since the time of Mars’s arrival, about 2.5 months time has been used to survey Utopia planitia. In addition, high-resolution pictures of Utopia Planitia were taken about the rover’s landing in this area, in order to find a safe place for landing. The goal of all these missions was to find a safe place as far away as possible, so that the rover could be saved from craters and large boulders. At the same time, Chinese engineers have to follow the events with time intervals.
How Zhurong Rover Landing Happened
The distance from Earth to Mars is 32 million kilometers. This means that it takes 18 minutes for any message from Mars to reach the Earth. In such a situation, every step of reaching the surface of Zhurong Rover had to do it independently. Entry into the planet’s atmosphere, downward movement and landing strategy were also similar. At the same time, the rover that was locked inside the aeroshell at a chosen time was released from the Tianwen-1 orbiter and started moving towards the surface.
While moving towards Mars, the aeroshell capsule suffered heat, which reduced its speed. Then a parachute opened and he controlled its speed and started moving it towards the landing place. After all, this rover slowly landed on the surface and then the rover came out from inside the aeroshell. This is a tough challenge. But China has shown great potential in its space efforts. Beijing has previously landed two rovers on the moon.
Zhurong Rover is equipped with what features
Now the Zhurong rover has successfully landed on Mars. In this case, scientists will work for at least 90 days on Mars through this rover. Through this, efforts will be made to understand the atmosphere of the planet. A day on Mars is 24 hours 39 minutes. The Zhurong rover looks like a US Space Agency NASA ‘Spirit and Opportunity’ rover. It weighs 240 kilograms and gets energy through solar panels. Cameras mounted on the rover will take pictures and navigation. In addition, five other instruments will explore the mineralogy of local rocks and the ice present below the ground.
Also read: NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter on Mars, see how flying in 3D video
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