China is about to try a high-stakes landing on Mars

[Graeme1858]

China prepares to land first rover on Mars

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-01301-7

Regards

Graeme

[GCoyote]

Up next: First traffic jam reported on Mars!

[smp]

From NationalGeographic.com:
"China is all set to attempt its first landing on another planet. After months in orbit around Mars, the Tianwen-1 spacecraft will deposit a rover called Zhurong on the surface of Mars. If successful, China will become the second country in history to explore the Martian surface with a rover."

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/scie ... es-mission

Here's hoping for a successful landing!

smp

[smp]

Here's another article from Ars Technica:
"China is about to attempt a highly ambitious landing on Mars"

https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/05 ... g-on-mars/

smp

[GCoyote]

The more the merrier.

[AntennaGuy]

"China lands on Mars in latest advance for its space program"
https://nypost.com/2021/05/14/china-lan ... e-program/
or
"China's 1st Mars rover 'Zhurong' lands on the Red Planet"
https://www.space.com/china-mars-rover- ... -1-zhurong

[Graeme1858]

[smp]

Thanks very much, AntennaGuy and Graeme, for posting the news!

Congratulations to the China Team for this historic achievement.

smp

[bearnard00]

Thats's pretty staggering how fast China is developing its space technology and developing itself in space exploration area. I know that this country is going to make its own Mars mission with crew in some time. I don't think that they will be able to outrace Space X however the result of their work can stagger whole world.

[bearnard00]

China Rover made succesfull landing in Mars. Makes China first attempt to operate land vehicle in surface of Mars. We can see how the reliability of their Rover on Mars environment will be.

[Graeme1858]

Thats's pretty staggering how fast China is developing its space technology and developing itself in space exploration area.

Exciting times!

Regards

Graeme

[Starship201]

It's amazing! Landing rover on Mars at the first attempt is a good reason to be proud of China. However, we need to wait till the rover makes its first drive on the planet and discovers something to state that the Chinese mission is successful.

[bearnard00]

It's amazing! Landing rover on Mars at the first attempt is a good reason to be proud of China. However, we need to wait till the rover makes its first drive on the planet and discovers something to state that the Chinese mission is successful.

Yeah, I am looking forward to getting to know something intersting from this chinese rover. As I have already mentioned in this thread, this is a great achievement for chinese space exploration department.

[Starship201]

It's amazing! Landing rover on Mars at the first attempt is a good reason to be proud of China. However, we need to wait till the rover makes its first drive on the planet and discovers something to state that the Chinese mission is successful.

Yeah, I am looking forward to getting to know something intersting from this chinese rover. As I have already mentioned in this thread, this is a great achievement for chinese space exploration department.

What exactly do you want to know about this rover? Perhaps there is something I can do for you?

[bearnard00]

It's amazing! Landing rover on Mars at the first attempt is a good reason to be proud of China. However, we need to wait till the rover makes its first drive on the planet and discovers something to state that the Chinese mission is successful.

Yeah, I am looking forward to getting to know something intersting from this chinese rover. As I have already mentioned in this thread, this is a great achievement for chinese space exploration department.

What exactly do you want to know about this rover? Perhaps there is something I can do for you?

It's very kind of you) I`d like to get to know some more details about that chinise rover like it`s main purposes on the red planet. I don`t know much about this mission and I would be greatful for all details you can share with me)

[Starship201]

Yeah, I am looking forward to getting to know something intersting from this chinese rover. As I have already mentioned in this thread, this is a great achievement for chinese space exploration department.

What exactly do you want to know about this rover? Perhaps there is something I can do for you?

It's very kind of you) I`d like to get to know some more details about that chinise rover like it`s main purposes on the red planet. I don`t know much about this mission and I would be greatful for all details you can share with me)

Tianwen missions aim to explore Mars's internal structure, geology, and of course search for the signs of life. Zhurong rover is a part of this mission that aims to study the topology, analyze soil, atmosphere, and survey minerals, rocks, and other elements it'll find. Zhurong has several instruments, such as a climate station, ground-penetrating radar, magnetic field detector, and several cameras.

[AntennaGuy]

Thats's pretty staggering how fast China is developing its space technology and developing itself in space exploration area. I know that this country is going to make its own Mars mission with crew in some time. I don't think that they will be able to outrace Space X however the result of their work can stagger whole world.

OK, inquiring minds want to know:
1. How much of the hardware on the various American Martian rovers was "made in China?"
2. How much of the hardware on this first Chinese Martian rover was "made in the USA?"
I'm willing to bet that most/all of the hardware for Viking 1 & 2 were "made in the USA." And I bet that most or all of the hardware on the new Chinese rover is "made in China." But is it possible that we (USA, including NASA, SpaceX, and others) are already outsourcing the manufacturing of much of "our" latest space technology to China? Do NASA and SpaceX etc. shop at the same astronomy/telescope/camera/electronics stores that we do?
:shrug:

[bearnard00]

What exactly do you want to know about this rover? Perhaps there is something I can do for you?

It's very kind of you) I`d like to get to know some more details about that chinise rover like it`s main purposes on the red planet. I don`t know much about this mission and I would be greatful for all details you can share with me)

Tianwen missions aim to explore Mars's internal structure, geology, and of course search for the signs of life. Zhurong rover is a part of this mission that aims to study the topology, analyze soil, atmosphere, and survey minerals, rocks, and other elements it'll find. Zhurong has several instruments, such as a climate station, ground-penetrating radar, magnetic field detector, and several cameras.

Thank you so much) It was very kind of you to share with me such an interesting information. Now, I am looking forward to hearing some news from this mission and new accomplished goals

[AntennaGuy]

Have you all seen this? I mean, the mission actually happened, presumably. But if this story is an accurate report, then this video-plagiarism seems like an unforced error. It's just sad.
China Mars Rover Animation Appears to Copy NASA Video Shot for Shot.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technolo ... uxbndlbing
:shrug: :sigh:

[GCoyote]

Have you all seen this? I mean, the mission actually happened, presumably. But if this story is an accurate report, then this video-plagiarism seems like an unforced error. It's just sad.
China Mars Rover Animation Appears to Copy NASA Video Shot for Shot.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technolo ... uxbndlbing
:shrug: :sigh:

Hmmm, it's hard to say how much of that might be due to the Chinese adopting essentially the same engineering solution to getting down to the Martian surface.