Tianwen-1 spent a year on the planet’s surface and completed tasks
The red planet was all imaged by the Chinese probe Tianwen-1. After a year on the surface of Mars, the Chinese Space Agency (CNSA) announced that the spacecraft had completed all tasks, including capturing medium-resolution images of the entire planet.
It is the result of the tasks of the Tianwen-1 spacecraft. The name given to the probe means “search for celestial truth”, and it was launched in 2020, landing on Mars in May of this year.
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The rover Zhurong, which was on board, began the mission to patrol and explore the Martian surface, while the orbiting module established and relayed communications between the exploration vehicle and Earth.
In a statement, the Chinese Space Agency explained that Tianwen-1 has completed the objectives of this phase, especially capturing medium-resolution images that cover the entire planet.
The images were recorded by the orbiting module that circled Mars 1,344 times in 706 days, capturing the red planet from all angles, in an action combined with the rover that explored the surface, indicated the CNSA. The six-wheeled surface vehicle carried scientific instruments to gather information about the geological structure, atmosphere, environment and soil of Mars.
According to the CNSA, “the spacecraft collected 1,040 gigabytes of raw scientific data, which was processed by scientists on Earth and handed over to research teams for further study.” The agency added that the in-orbit module’s flight information was shared with NASA, the US space agency, and the European Space Agency. scientific data will be available to international scientists “at the appropriate time”.
The rover went into idle mode on May 18 and will remain so during the Martian winter, which is characterized by low temperatures and poor conditions, with sand and dust.
