On May 14th 2021, China created history by landing Mars lander and the ''Zhurong'' rover part of the Tianwen 1 mission. This is after US and Russia , although in terms of successful landing and recovery, China comes as second only to US as Russian lander (Mars 3) had failed to respond after 110 seconds post landing on 1971.
This is indeed a big achievement for China Space Agency CNSA.
The mission was launched from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site on 23 July 2020 on a Long March 5 heavy-lift launch vehicle. After 7 months of transit, it entered orbit around Mars on 10 February 2021. For the next 3 months the space probe studied the target landing sites from a reconnaissance orbit; then on 14 May 2021 (UTC) the landing phase began with the release of the capsule containing the lander/rover. The capsule made an atmospheric entry followed by a descent phase under parachute, after which the lander used retro-propulsion to soft-land on Mars. According to reports, the actual landing time was 23:18, 14 May 2021 (UTC); shortly thereafter, CNSA confirmed the landing.Within the next few days, if all systems remain functional, the lander would deploy the rover, which is designed to explore the surface for 90 sols; the rover has a height of 1.85 meter and a mass of about 240 kg. On 24 April 2021, in anticipation of the upcoming landing attempt, CNSA announced the rover is to be named Zhurong (the name Zhurong references a mytho-historical figure in Chinese folklore usually associated with fire). After the planned rover deployment, the orbiter would serve as a telecommunications relay for the rover while continuing to conduct its own orbital observations of Mars.
Credit: CCNA/CCTV
Animation credit: ''Reach'' youtube channel /Kerwis (KSP) ( see below link ) https://youtu.be/cibwHSTzRXw
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