China News Agency, Beijing, May 15th (Ma Shuisha, Zhang Guohang, Mao Lingye) On May 15, 2021, the Tianwen-1 probe successfully landed on the pre-selected landing area in the southern Utopia Plain of Mars, leaving Chinese people on Mars for the first time. imprint.

Today, the first anniversary of Tianwen-1's "fire".

On February 4, 2022, the Tianwen-1 Zhurong Mars rover posted a selfie with the mascots of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics "Bing Dun Dun and Xue Rong Rong" through its official Weibo account.

(Video screenshot) Image source: Visual China

What does "fire" mean?

　　On July 23, 2020, the Tianwen-1 probe was launched by a Long March 5 rocket at China's Wenchang Space Launch Site, and successfully arrived and landed on Mars on May 15, 2021.

One week after the "fire", the "Zhurong" rover drove off the landing platform; on June 11 of the same year, the first scientific images of the Tianwen-1 probe landing on Mars were released.

　　In the history of China's aerospace development, the Tianwen-1 mission has achieved 6 "firsts": the first launch of a ground-fire transfer orbital probe; the first interplanetary flight; the first soft landing on an extraterrestrial planet; Exploration; for the first time, the measurement and control communication at a distance of 400 million kilometers was realized; for the first time, the first-hand Mars scientific data was obtained.

　　In the history of world spaceflight, the Tianwen-1 mission not only left China's imprint on Mars for the first time, but also completed the three major goals of Mars orbit, landing and inspection in one mission for the first time, marking China's entry into the world's leading ranks in the field of planetary exploration.

What did "Falling Fire" do in a year?

　　After driving on the surface of Mars, the "Zhurong" rover moved toward the south of the landing site to conduct scientific exploration of the Martian surface geomorphology, and continuously returned the detection data.

As of August 15, 2021, the "Zhurong" rover has been operating on the surface of Mars for 90 Martian days, successfully completed the scheduled inspection and exploration mission, and has been in good condition.

　　From late September to late October last year, the Tianwen-1 probe orbiter and the "Zhurong" rover entered autonomous operation mode, suspending scientific exploration work, and safely spent the first solar transit.

In November, the "Zhurong" Mars rover and ESA's "Mars Express" successfully completed the on-orbit relay communication test.

　　Entering 2022, the Tianwen-1 probe will continue to send back "greetings" from Mars.

On the eve of the Spring Festival in the Year of the Tiger, the Tianwen-1 probe sent back a set of "selfie" videos from Mars orbit to extend New Year's blessings to the people of the country.

On February 4, the opening day of the Beijing Winter Olympics, the Tianwen No. 1 probe and the five-star red flag took a selfie with the emblems of the Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics, and presented a "highest" "Winter Olympics" gift.

　　In May, the Chinese scientific research team used data obtained by the "Zhurong" rover to find signs of water activity in the geologically younger "Zhurong" landing area, indicating that this area of ​​Mars may contain a large amount of available minerals in the form of water. water.

How is the detector working now?

　　According to information released by the China National Space Administration on the 15th, the "Zhurong" rover has so far worked on the surface of Mars for 356 Martian days, with a total mileage of 1,921 meters.

The orbiter has flown for 661 days since its launch, and has continued to carry out remote sensing detection after entering the orbit around the fire.

At present, the two devices are in good condition, and about 940GB of original scientific data has been acquired and returned.

Teams of scientists are conducting data analysis, interpretation and research.

　　At present, the "Zhurong" Mars rover inspection area has entered winter, the highest temperature during the day is less than minus 20 degrees Celsius, and sand and dust weather is frequent.

Affected by the gradual reduction of the solar irradiation angle and the local sand and dust weather, the energy acquisition capacity of the Mars rover has gradually decreased, and the thermal insulation consumption has gradually increased.

　　In order to cope with this harsh environment, according to the design plan, the "Zhurong" rover will switch to winter mode operation.

The orbiter continues to carry out remote sensing exploration, and will soon achieve global coverage of Mars, while providing relay communication support for the Mars rover.

How will China's deep space exploration be carried out in the future?

　　According to the "2021 China's Spaceflight" white paper, 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 technological breakthroughs of Chang'e 8, and cooperate with relevant countries, international organizations and international The partners jointly carried out the construction of an international lunar scientific research station; continued to implement the planetary exploration project, launched asteroid probes, completed the sampling of near-Earth asteroids, and completed key technological breakthroughs such as Mars sampling and return.

　　The reporter learned from the Fifth Academy of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation that at present, the Chang'e series of probes are carrying out various work as planned; the Tianwen-2 probe has also entered the stage of initial sample development, and the mission is accelerating.

　　From Chang'e's lunar exploration to Tianwen's landing on fire, China has always been committed to promoting international cooperation in the fields of lunar exploration and deep space exploration.

In the Tianwen-1 mission, China has carried out engineering and technical cooperation with ESA, and carried out scientific payload cooperation with Austria and France.

China's deep space station in Argentina, as China's first overseas deep space measurement and control station, provides measurement and control support for Tianwen-1.

China has also established an orbital data exchange mechanism for Mars probes with the United States, and launched international cooperation in loading and carrying asteroids.

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