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HELSINKI – China’s first interplanetary mission, Tianwen-1, successfully entered Mars orbit on February 10 after a 202-day trip to deep space.
Tianwen-1 initiated a nearly 15-minute burn of its 3000N main engine at 6:52 a.m. EST, allowing the five-ton spacecraft to slow down and be gravitationally captured by Mars.
The Mars Orbit Insertion Maneuver was designed to place the Tianwen-1 in a 400 by 180,000 km elliptical orbit tilted 10 degrees, with an orbital period of 10 days.
With Mars more than 192 million kilometers from Earth and a light delay of 10 minutes and 40 seconds, the brake burn was by necessity pre-programmed. Intervention would not be possible in the event of a problem.
Tianwen-1 will gradually lower its orbit to allow observations of Mars. He will also begin preparations for the entry, descent and attempted landing of a 240-kilogram solar-powered rover, an event expected to take place around May.
The orbiter is expected to come as close as 265 kilometers to the surface, allowing a high-resolution camera to return images with a resolution better than 0.50 meters per pixel.
This capability will be used to map a targeted rover landing site in Utopia Planitia. Landing contact information of 110.318 degrees east longitude and 24.748 degrees north latitude had already been published in an official Chinese space publication before being deleted.
Tianwen-1 joins UAE Hope mission, arrival Tuesday, orbiting the red planet. NASA’s Perseverance rover will arrive and perform a soft landing attempt on February 18.
Soviet, Japanese and American spacecraft have already failed at the orbital insertion stage of the mission. The Soviet Mars 4 mission was unable to fire its engines and therefore continued past Mars, while NASA’s Mars Climate Orbiter in 1999 got too close, resulting in an end-of-interaction interaction. mission with the Martian atmosphere.
The study of water ice among the scientific objectives
Tianwen-1 is designed to collect a variety of data, both from orbit and on the Martian surface.
Long Xiao, a planetary scientist from the Chinese University of Geosciences, said News than Tianwen-1 equipped with a total of 13 scientific payloads to study Martian morphology and topography, study surface regolith and search for water ice with radar, study the composition of surface materials and characteristics of the ionosphere, climate, environment and magnetic field.
“The most unique purpose is to research and map the distribution of water ice on the surface and below the surface,” says Long. Two sounding radars will operate independently, one on board the orbiter. He will conduct a global survey but will focus more on the high latitude polar regions. The other is on the rover. “Because the processing and interpretation of radar data is very complex, ground and satellite radar data could provide more reliable results than just one,” says Long.
Zhang Xiaoping, associate professor at Macau University of Science and Technology, also highlighted the potential of radar payloads.
“We want to use the radar system to measure the underground structure of the Martian surface, especially for buried water ice. This would allow us to study not only the underlying geological structures of Mars, but also the potential source of water ice that provides long-term human stay, ”said Zhang. News.
“It is also important to measure the thickness and layers of ice and carbon dioxide in the polar region, to understand the seasonal changes in the atmosphere of Mars. By combining the results of orbital and ground penetration radars, we will have a better understanding of the structure and evolution of the ground at the landing site.
Deep space travel
Tianwen-1 launched from Wenchang, southern China, on July 23, 2020 aboard a March 5 heavy rocket. The new launcher was back in flight in December 2019, having been immobilized for more than 900 days after a failure in 2017.
The spacecraft performed four course correction maneuvers to refine its orbit and a larger deep space maneuver to change its orbital tilt.
The European Space Agency provided China with support for the launch and early orbit phase (LEOP) and later during the Earth-Mars transfer with very precise tracking via Delta-DOR (delta Differential One way Range). This was achieved with 35 meter diameter ESA space antennas located in Cebreros, Spain and New Norcia, Western Australia.
The Tianwen-1 orbiter has a nominal lifespan of one Martian year, or 687 Earth days. The rover, to be named by public vote and subsequent committee decision, has a design lifespan of approximately 90 Earth days.
The mission draws on technologies and capabilities developed by orbiters, landers and rovers of the Chang’e lunar program, as well as the head protection and parachute expertise of the manned space flight efforts in Shenzhou.
China is also developing a sample return mission to Mars for around 2028-30.
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