May 15 is the first anniversary of the successful landing of tianwen-1 on Mars. On May 15, 2021, the tianwen-1 probe landed in the pre selected landing area in the south of the Martian Utopia plain. China's first Mars exploration mission landed on Mars successfully, marking an important step in China's interstellar exploration journey, realizing the leap from the Earth Moon system to the interplanetary system, leaving a Chinese impression on Mars for the first time.
On March 4, 2021, NASA released a high-definition image of Mars taken by China's first Mars exploration mission, tianwen-1. Issued by Xinhua News Agency (picture provided by the National Space Administration)
Tianwen-1 creates history
One week after the "fire", on May 22, 2021, under the careful operation of ground personnel, the Mars rover zhurong drove down the landing platform; On June 11, the first batch of scientific images of tianwen-1 spacecraft landing on Mars were released. China's first Mars exploration mission was a complete success.
In the history of China's aerospace development, tianwen-1 mission has achieved six "firsts": the first launch of the earth fire transfer orbit probe, the first interplanetary flight, the first soft landing of an extraterrestrial planet, the first patrol detection of the surface of an extraterrestrial planet, the first measurement and control communication at a distance of 400 million kilometers, and the first access to first-hand Mars scientific data.
In the history of world aerospace, tianwen-1 not only left a Chinese mark on Mars for the first time, but also achieved the three major goals of orbiting, landing and patrolling Mars through one mission for the first time, which fully demonstrated the wisdom of Chinese astronauts and marked China's entry into the world's advanced ranks in the field of planetary exploration.
As the general research and development unit of tianwen-1 Mars probe, the research and development team of the Fifth Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology Group has made arduous efforts. Take zhurong Mars rover as an example, it adopts bionic "Butterfly" unique appearance design; Install the national flag in a prominent position to make the five-star red flag shine on Mars; After stepping on Mars, the "Chinese" imprint left in the rut fully reflects the Chinese wisdom.
On June 11, 2021, the National Space Administration held the unveiling ceremony of the first batch of scientific images of the tianwen-1 probe landing on Mars in Beijing, announcing the panoramic view of the landing site, the topography and landform of Mars, "Chinese imprint" and "group photo of the landing Tour" taken by the zhurong Mars rover. This is the picture of "patrol group photo". Issued by Xinhua News Agency (picture provided by the National Space Administration)
Tianwen-1 has achieved fruitful results
After driving on the surface of Mars, the Mars rover zhurong kept moving towards the south of the landing site and kept returning the detection data. In the process of moving forward, zhurong completed the scientific exploration of the surface topography of Mars, successfully crossed multiple terrain complex areas, and carried out detailed exploration of stones, sand dunes and impact pits. A large number of scientific data were obtained by using loads such as surface magnetic field detector, Mars meteorological meter and subsurface detection radar.
As of August 15, 2021, the zhurong Mars rover has been operating on the surface of Mars for 90 Mars days, successfully completed the established patrol and exploration tasks, in good condition, and began extended service.
From late September to late October 2021, the orbiter of tianwen-1 probe and the Mars rover zhurong entered the autonomous operation mode, suspended scientific exploration, and safely passed the first solar eclipse.
In November 2021, the zhurong Mars rover and the ESA Mars Express conducted an on orbit relay communication test, which was a complete success.
In May 2022, using the data obtained by the Zhurong rover, China's scientific research team found signs of water activity in the landing area of the Zhurong rover with a younger geological age, indicating that this area of Mars may contain a large amount of available water in the form of water bearing minerals.
As of May 5, 2022, the orbiter of tianwen-1 probe has been in orbit for 651 days, 240 million kilometers away from the earth. The Mars rover zhurong has worked on the surface of Mars for 347 Martian days, traveling a total of 1921 meters. The two orbiters have obtained about 940gb of original scientific data, and the operation is normal.
On New Year's day in 2022, the National Space Administration released a set of exquisite images sent back by China's first Mars exploration mission, tianwen-1, from distant Mars to report peace to the people of the whole country. This is a group photo of the orbiter with Mars. Issued by Xinhua News Agency (picture provided by the National Space Administration)
Deep space exploration keeps walking
According to the white paper "China's aerospace in 2021", in the next five years, China will continue to implement the lunar exploration project, launch chang'e-6, chang'e-7 and other probes, complete the key technical breakthrough of chang'e-8, and jointly carry out the construction of international lunar scientific research stations with relevant countries, international organizations and international partners. We will continue to implement the planetary exploration project, launch asteroid probes, complete the sampling of near Earth Asteroids, and complete the key technologies such as Mars sampling and return.
The reporter learned that at present, Chang'e series detectors are carrying out various work as planned. Tianwen-2 detector has also entered the initial sample development stage, and the task is accelerating.
Wu Weiren, academician of the Chinese Academy of engineering and chief designer of the China lunar exploration project, said that China's deep space exploration will continue for a long time, "as fast as you can go, as far as you can go".
China's deep space exploration has been going on all the time.