https://www.engineeringnews.co.za
Environment|Exploration|PROJECT|Projects|Surface|System|Technology|Water
Environment|Exploration|PROJECT|Projects|Surface|System|Technology|Water
environment|exploration|project|projects|surface|system|technology|water

Two countries place probes in Martian orbit for the first time

Mars, imaged by China’s Tianwen-1 at a distance of 2.2-million kilometres

Mars, imaged by China’s Tianwen-1 at a distance of 2.2-million kilometres

Photo by China National Space Administration

12th February 2021

By: Rebecca Campbell

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

     

Font size: - +

This week two countries have been able to celebrate the safe insertion into Martian orbit of their space probes. And neither country had ever before launched an interplanetary mission. They are the United Arab Emirates (UAE), whose Hope (in Arabic, Amal) spacecraft entered Martian orbit on Tuesday, and China, whose Tianwen-1 (in English, ‘Questions to Heaven-1’) entered Martian orbit on Wednesday. 

The UAE Space Agency (UAESA) became only the fifth entity, after its US, Soviet/Russian, European and Japanese counterparts, to place a spacecraft in orbit around Mars. Consequently, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) is the sixth such agency. The key moment for both was the achievement of Mars orbit insertion (MOI) by their respective spacecraft.

“MOI was the most critical and dangerous part of our journey to Mars, exposing the Hope probe to stresses and pressures it has never before faced,” pointed out UAESA Emirate Mars Mission project director Omran Sharaf. “With this enormous milestone achieved, we are now preparing to transition to our science orbit and commence science data gathering.” The transition to the science orbit would take two months.

“As a young nation, it is a particular point of pride that we are now in a position to make a tangible contribution to humanity’s understanding of Mars,” affirmed UAE Minister of State for Advanced Technology (and UAESA chair) Sarah Al Amiri. “This also marks an important point for the Emirates to continue the drive to diversify its economy utilising science and technology.”

Unlike the UAESA, the CNSA made no public statement on its spacecraft’s successful achievement of MOI, other than to say that it had taken place. Nor did the Chinese government make a statement. Tianwen-1 now also had to transition to its science orbit.

Both missions, like most contemporary space projects, involved international cooperation. For Hope, the UAESA worked closely with several US universities, and the spacecraft was launched by a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries H-2A rocket from Japan’s Tanegashima Space Centre. The Tianwen-1 mission received essential and very precise tracking data from the European Space Agency.

Hope was a purely orbiter mission, focused on gathering data about the Martian atmosphere and weather. “Hope will capture the ebbs and flows of weather on Mars to a degree that wasn’t possible before,” explained University of Colorado Atmospheric and Space Physics Laboratory director Daniel Baker, in a statement released before the spacecraft reached Mars.

The Tianwen-1 mission comprised both an orbiter and a lander. The lander was carrying a 240-kg rover, and would touch down in the Utopia Planitia region of Mars. The exact landing site would be chosen following analysis of images taken by a high-resolution camera on the orbiter. The landing attempt was expected to be made in May or June. The only country that had so far successfully placed and operated landers and rovers on the Martian surface was the US. 

Between them, Tianwen-1’s orbiter and rover would gather data on Martian morphology, topography, surface regolith (powder, dust and sand), the composition of surface materials, and also study the climate, environment, ionosphere, and magnetic field, as well as using radar to search for water ice. One radar was on the lander, the other on the rover. 

“We want to use the radar system to measure the subsurface structure of the Martian surface, especially for buried water ice,” Macau University of Science and Technology Associate Professor Zhang Xiaoping elucidated to US journal SpaceNews. “This would allow us to study not only the underlying geologic structures of Mars, but also the potential source of water ice that supplies long-term human stay. It is also important to measure the thickness and layers of ice and carbon dioxide in the polar region, to understand the seasonal atmosphere evolutions of Mars. By combining orbital and ground penetrating radar results, we will have a better understanding of the soil structure and evolution in the landing site.”

The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Mars 2020 mission would arrive at Mars on February 18. It was carrying the Perseverance lander which, in turn, was carrying the Ingenuity drone helicopter. 2021 was set to be a bumper year for Mars exploration.

 

Edited by Creamer Media Reporter

Comments

Showroom

Magni SA
Magni SA

Magni SA is committed to developing the safest Telehandlers available to our customers for underground and surface mining, construction, forestry,...

VISIT SHOWROOM 
GreaseMax
GreaseMax

GreaseMax is a chemically operated automatic lubricator.

VISIT SHOWROOM 

Latest Multimedia

sponsored by

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION







sq:0.213 0.265s - 138pq - 2rq
Subscribe Now