China’s first Zhurong rover with its landing platform. /CNSA
China’s first Zhurong rover with its landing platform. /CNSA
The China National Space Administration (CNSA) on Sunday released a set of research results from its first Mars exploration mission.
The Tianwen-1 orbiter has operated for 780 days and the Zhurong rover has traveled 1,921 meters on the red planet’s surface as of Thursday, according to CNSA’s Lunar Research Center and Space Program.
Both the orbiter and rover have completed targeted science exploration missions and acquired 1,480 gigabytes of raw science data, the center said.
Using data collected by Zhurong, Chinese scientists revealed the relationship between the formation of geological features and water activities on Mars by conducting a comprehensive survey of these geological features in the landing area.
Geomorphology of impact craters, jagged cones, grooves and ridges in the Chinese Zhurong martian landing zone. /CMG
Geomorphology of impact craters, jagged cones, grooves and ridges in the Chinese Zhurong martian landing zone. /CMG
The Chinese scientists also found hydrated minerals in the plate-like rocks, a layer of “duricrust,” proving that there was significant liquid water activity in the landing zone from the Amazonian age, which was about 1 billion years ago.
Slab-like rocks and the schematic model of the solid crust formation process in the landing zone of the Chinese Zhurong Mars rover. /CMG
Slab-like rocks and the schematic model of the solid crust formation process in the landing zone of the Chinese Zhurong Mars rover. /CMG
The scientists also found that Martian soil has high bearing strength and low friction parameters, revealing that the site where the rover landed must have suffered wind and possibly water erosion.
Geological features of Mars in the landing area of the Chinese Zhurong rover. /CMG
Geological features of Mars in the landing area of the Chinese Zhurong rover. /CMG
These results revealed the impact of wind and water activities on Mars’ geological evolution and environmental changes, and provided support for the hypothesis that there was once an ocean on the Utopian Plateau, according to the CNSA.
In addition, Chinese scientists have obtained a number of scientific results on the relationship between the density of rocks on the Martian surface and the degree of surface erosion, the distribution of ions and neutral particles in the space environment near Mars, and the gravitational field of Mars.
Relevant studies have been published in Natural astronomy, Nature Geoscience and Scientific progress.
Future missions will continue to conduct remote-sensing surveys and accumulate scientific data, CNSA said.
The Tianwen-1 probe, consisting of an orbiter, a lander and a rover, was launched on July 23, 2020. On May 15, 2021, it touched down at the pre-selected landing zone in Utopia Planitia, a vast Martian plain, marking the first time that when China landed a probe on the planet.
Add Comment