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From China Tianwen-1 the spacecraft has reduced its orbit around Mars to allow the spacecraft to analyze the chosen landing region on the red planet.
After the burn, which occurred on Tuesday February 23, Tianwen-1 is now able to begin imaging and collecting data at the primary and backup landing sites for the mission rover, which will attempt to land in May or June.
Tianwen-1, China’s first independent interplanetary mission, consists of an orbiter and a rover, which orbit Mars as a single spacecraft. since February 10. The last engine burn, at 5:29 p.m. EST Tuesday (10:29 p.m. GMT, 6:29 a.m. Beijing time Wednesday), performed during the spacecraft’s closest approach to Mars, significantly reduced its apoapsis, or furthest point on the planet.
Related: The latest news on the Chinese space program
Tianwen-1’s new “parking orbit” brings the spacecraft as close as 280 kilometers (170 miles) to Mars and as far as 37,000 miles (59,000 km).
The Mission Orbiter now turns on its camera and science payloads, preparing to assess the landscape and dust conditions at the main landing site, located in an area of Utopia Planitia, a vast plain on the Red Planet.
The “parking orbit” will allow the orbiter to capture crisp images of the target landing site, potentially returning images with a resolution of 20 inches (50 centimeters) per pixel.
Tianwen-1 will photograph the area several times to assess the topography and dust conditions in the landing zone, said Tan Zhiyun, deputy chief designer of the Mars probe at the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST). CCTV +. “We will find all of this information for a safe landing,” Tan said.
Each orbit takes around two Earth days, so China may be able to capture and release the probe’s first high-resolution images of the Martian surface within days.
Understanding local conditions is also very important to the operation of the mission’s approximately 530 lbs. (240 kilograms) solar powered rover. Martian dust can pose major threats to solar-powered spacecraft on the surface; NASA’s Rover Opportunity lost contact with Earth in 2018 during such a global dust storm.
The Tianwen-1 rover is contained in an aerosol spray attached to the orbiter. This conical structure will protect and slow down both the rover during its hypersonic and inflamed entry into the Martian atmosphere at the start of the landing attempt. A supersonic parachute will further slow the rover before the back-prop engines provide the final deceleration for the soft landing.
The rover carries scientific payloads study surface soil characteristics and mineral composition and search for potential water ice with ground-penetrating radar. The rover is designed to operate for 90 Mars soles (92 Earth days) with the Tianwen-1 orbiter serving to relay communications and data between the rover and Earth. The orbiter is designed to operate for a total of one year on Mars, or approximately 687 Earth days.
Tianwen-1 is one of three missions that have just reached Mars. Tianwen-1 entered orbit a day after the United Arab Emirates’ Hope probe achieved the same feat and a week before the spectacular landing of NASA’s Perseverance rover.
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