China News Service, Hong Kong, June 7th. Title: Helping "Tianwen No. 1" Witness and Participate in History-Interview with Professor Wu Bo of Hong Kong Polytechnic University
China News Agency reporter Wang Jiacheng
At 7:18 on May 15, the Tianwen-1 probe successfully landed in the pre-selected landing area in the southern part of the Mars Utopia Plain, and China's first Mars exploration mission successfully landed on Mars.
The young research team from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University is responsible for the analysis of the topography of Mars and assisting in the selection of candidate landing areas.
Data map: The rendering of Tianwen-1 landing on Mars.
Photo courtesy of the Eighth Academy of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation
Professor Wu Bo of the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics of Hong Kong Polytechnic University, who led the research team, said in an exclusive interview with China News Agency recently: “We not only witnessed history, but we are also part of history. We participated in history. This one The sense of accomplishment, this excitement and joy, is very difficult to describe in words."
In Wu Bo's view, the "Tianwen-1" Mars exploration mission created the history of deep space exploration, because no country has ever completed the three "orbiting, landing, and patrolling" for the first time in such a short period of time. A very important task.
"It took about 20 years for the United States to complete this three-step strategy. China can complete a task at a time. This is a very great achievement. China has made history."
In 2016, Wu Bo was invited by the Chinese Academy of Space Technology to lead a team to analyze and evaluate the global topography of Mars.
In the meantime, a total of three candidate landing areas were selected, which are located in the Amazon Plain, Chris Plain, and Utopia Plain.
Based on the results of the research, the southern area of the Utopia Plain, the largest impact basin in the northern hemisphere of Mars, was finally selected as the target landing area for the "Tianwen-1".
In February 2021, after "Tianwen-1" entered the orbit of Mars, it took high-resolution images of the selected target landing area.
Since the team obtained the relevant images in March, they have been processing them intensively, and finally successfully searched for several landing ellipses for the "Tianwen No. 1" mission team to make the final selection.
"The whole time lasted about 5 to 6 years, it is a very long process. We feel very honored to be able to participate from beginning to end." Wu Bo said.
He admitted that the process of completing the task was stressful and difficult.
Especially in the past two months, from mid-March to early May, the team needed to process a large amount of high-resolution images of data, and also to analyze the millions of rocks and tens of thousands of rocks in the target landing area through three-dimensional modeling. Thousands of impact craters and other geomorphic features that may affect landing safety.
In the meantime, some classmates were unwell, and after a short break, they returned to work; some even slept in the office all night long.
"Pressure is everywhere, but I am gratified that every member of our team is able to go all out. Everyone has a sense of honor and mission, and actively contributes their own strength." He said.
As Wu Bo said, most of the team members he leads are young and motivated and full of hard work.
While these young people are working hard to complete their tasks, they also gradually grow up.
Wu Bo mentioned that a doctoral student he brought is currently in Beijing to assist in the detailed measurement of the landing area of the "Tianwen-1" probe and the precise positioning of the landing site.
When he joined the team 5 years ago, this student was just a little girl who had just graduated from university and became a postdoctoral researcher in a blink of an eye.
"This is the country's Mars exploration mission, and it provides us (student growth) with such an opportunity." He said with satisfaction.
In addition to his own students, Wu Bo sighed that the designers of the China Academy of Space Technology that he initially dealt with were also very young. After five or six years, they have become very mature and experienced chief designers.
"This process is very amazing and gratifying. The engineers of our national aerospace industry are very young. They have experienced missions such as Mars exploration, and they have grown vigorously. I believe they will become a very important force in the development of the national aerospace industry. ."
Talking about the future, Wu Bo revealed that the team has already begun to meet new challenges.
He told reporters that the team is now assisting the national aerospace department in preparations for the fourth phase of the lunar exploration project, such as Chang'e-7 to explore the lunar south pole, and Chang'e-8 may carry out the construction of a lunar south pole research station.
The team also hopes to continue to participate in the country’s future Mars exploration missions and small celestial body exploration missions. “Small celestial body detection is of great scientific significance, because the water on the earth may be brought about by a large number of asteroid impacts. Therefore, the earth How life is born, through the detection of asteroids, it is possible to find the answer." (End)