The space race is, again, at its best. The Chinese National Space Administration (CNSA) has announced that the explorer Zhurong landed at 11:18 p.m. GMT this Friday, May 14, on a plain of Utopia Planitia , in the northern hemisphere of the red planet.
China’s first Martian mission
The lander carrying Zhurong completed the treacherous descent through the Martian atmosphere using a parachute to traverse the “seven minutes of terror” targeting a vast northern lava plain.
China is therefore the first country to carry out an in orbit, landing and displacement operation during its first mission to Mars, a feat unmatched by the only other two nations that have reached the Red Planet so far, the United States and Russia. . While the now-defunct Soviet Union landed a rover on Mars in 1971, it only lasted a few minutes before Russian engineers lost all communication with the lander that housed the rover, meaning China is the second nation to operate. successfully a rover beyond the Moon.
The Zhurong rover, named after a mythical Chinese fire god, has six wheels ; It is powered by solar energy and weighs approximately 240 kilograms. Its mission will be the search, collection and analysis of rock samples from the surface of Mars.
China has made great strides in recent years, in a concerted national effort to bridge the gap between NASA’s achievements and China’s space program.
Three active rovers on Mars
China’s Zhurong is one of three active rovers on Mars, the other two being NASA’s Perseverance and Curiosity.
