Beijing’s Mars rover prepares for 90-day exploration
CHINA’S Mars rover is preparing to drive on to the surface of the Red Planet to search for signs of life and ice that could sustain a future human colony.
The six-wheeled Zhurong robot touched down safely early yesterday morning in its lander – a feat only achieved by Russia and the US.
It joins its American counterpart, the Perseverance rover, which arrived in February. The Chinese rover, named after a god of fire, will shelter in its lander for the coming days while diagnostic tests are run.
Zhurong will then roll down the lander’s ramp on to Utopia Planitia, an icy area of Mars.
It will then explore the planet’s surface, surveying the local geology and environment, with the goal of better understanding the distribution of ice, which future human colonists could use to sustain themselves.
Around the size of a small car, Zhurong has sensors to gauge the atmosphere and magnetic field, and a ground-penetrating radar. It is expected to be deployed for 90 days, and will also search for evidence of life.
The successful landing marked an exceptional achievement for the Chinese space programme and its Tianwen-1 mission.
Xi Jinping, China’s president, called the landing “outstanding”, adding that it will leave the “mark of the Chinese on Mars for the first time”. He said: “You were brave enough for the challenge, pursued excellence and placed our country in the advanced ranks of planetary exploration.”
China’s mission is particularly impressive given that it aims to do in one step what took Nasa several decades. After successfully getting into orbit and landing the rover, the final hurdle is moving it across the planet. It would make China the first country to carry out the three operations during its first mission.