Tianwen-1, mission to Mars, China

[Airicist]

Zhurong landing on Mars (on-board camera view)

Jun 27, 2021

The China National Space Administration (CNSA) released videos of the landing process of the Zhurong rover on Utopia Planitia, Mars, including parachute deployment, parachute and backshell separation, obstacle avoidance camera view of the landing. Tianwen-1 (天问一号) is China’s first Mars exploration mission with an orbiter, a lander and a rover named Zhurong (祝融).

[Airicist]

Zhurong’s sounds while descending onto Mars

Jun 27, 2021

Zhurong, the Tianwen-1 mission’s rover, has descended from the landing platform to the surface of Mars, in the Utopia Planitia region, on 22 May 2021, at 02:40 UTC (10:40 China Standard Time). According to CNSA: “The sound of the rover’s departure process comes mainly from the driving mechanism, the friction between the wheels and the ramp, and the friction between the wheels and the ground.” Zhurong driving on Mars (no audio): On 1 June 2021, the rover deployed a Wi-Fi camera on the ground a drove away. The camera recorded the rover’s retreat and the turning process. Then, it captured an image of the Zhurong rover and the Tianwen-1 lander from about 10 metres away. Tianwen-1 (天问一号) is China’s first Mars exploration mission with an orbiter, a lander and a rover named Zhurong (祝融).

[Airicist]

New images from Zhurong

Jul 13, 2021

Zhurong, the Tianwen-1 mission’s rover,
is exploring the Utopia Planitia region on Mars,
traveling more than 400m so far. The images were acquired using the MultiSpectral Camera (MSCam) and the Navigation and Terrain Camera(NaTeCam). Tianwen-1 (天问一号) is China’s first Mars exploration mission with an orbiter, a lander and a rover named Zhurong (祝融).

[Airicist]

Tianwen-1 and Zhurong – a new phase of Mars exploration

Aug 6, 2021

As of today, 6 August 2021, the Tianwen-1 orbiter has been in orbit around Mars for 379 days. The Zhurong rover has been on the surface of Mars for 82 Martian days and has traveled 808 metres. So far, the Tianwen-1 orbiter has been acting mainly as a relay satellite for Zhurong’s data.
On 14 August 2021, Zhurong will end its 90 days designed detection phase and the Tianwen-1 orbiter will go into a new science orbit.

[Airicist]

Zhurong completes its designed mission

Aug 17, 2021

According to CNSA, the Tianwen-1 rover “Zhurong” successfully completed the designed exploration mission. As of 15 August 2021, Zhurong has operated on the surface of Mars for 90 Martian days (approximately 92 Earth days) and traveled 889 metres in total. All scientific payloads were started for detection, and a total of about 10GB of raw data was obtained. Zhurong is reported to be in good condition and will continue to drive towards the ancient sea-land interface in the southern part of Utopia Planitia. Tianwen-1 (天问一号) is China’s first Mars exploration mission with an orbiter, a lander and a rover named Zhurong (祝融).
Credit: China Central Television (CCTV)/China National Space Administration (CNSA)

[Airicist2]

Tianwen-1 orbiter enters into its science orbit

Nov 9, 2021

On 8 November 2021, the Tianwen-1 orbiter has entered into its science orbit, an elliptical orbit optimized for its remote sensing mission. At its closest approach (periareion), the Tianwen-1 orbiter will be at about 265km from the surface of Mars. The farthest distance of the orbiter from Mars (apoareion) is about 10700 km. The Zhurong rover has traveled 1253 metres so far on the surface of Utopia Planitia, Mars. Tianwen-1 (天问一号) is China’s first Mars exploration mission with an orbiter, a lander and a rover named Zhurong (祝融).

[Airicist2]

New images from Tianwen-1 and Zhurong

Jan 1, 2022

On 1 January 2022, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) released new images from the Tianwen-1 orbiter and the Zhurong rover. The Tianwen-1 orbiter was captured in orbit around Mars by a camera released from the orbiter. The panorama is composed from three images recently obtained by the Zhurong rover using the Navigation and Terrain Camera (NaTeCam). Tianwen-1 (天问一号) is China’s first Mars exploration mission with an orbiter, a lander and a rover named Zhurong (祝融).

[Airicist2]

Phobos seen by Tianwen-1

Jul 23, 2022

Phobos, the larger of the two natural satellites of Mars, was observed by the Tianwen-1 orbiter with its high resolution camera. The image was released by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) to mark two years since the Tianwen-1 was launched. Tianwen-1 (天问一号) is China’s first Mars exploration mission with an orbiter, a lander and a rover named Zhurong (祝融).