China’s Zhurong Mars rover – INSIGHTSIAS

Topics Covered: Awareness in space. 

China’s Zhurong Mars rover: 

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Context: 

China’s Zhurong rover has driven for 509 meters on the surface of Mars so far. 

• The Zhurong rover has been working on the red planet for 63 Martian days. A Martian day is roughly 40 minutes longer than a day on Earth. 

 

Background: 

• China’s Tianwen-1 mission, consisting of an orbiter, a lander, and a rover, was launched on July 23, 2020. 
• The lander carrying the rover landed in the southern part of Utopia Planitia, a vast plain on the northern hemisphere of Mars, on May 15 this year. 

 

There are five core science objectives of the rover: 

1. Create a geological map of Mars. 
2. Explore the characteristics of the Martian soil and potentially locate water-ice deposits. 
3. Analyze the surface material composition. 
4. Investigate the Martian atmosphere and climate at the surface. 
5. Understand the electromagnetic and gravitational fields of the planet. 

 

Significance Tianwen-1 mission:  

1. Firstly, with the successful landing, China became the third nation to achieve a successful soft landing on Mars after the Soviet Union and the United States.
2. Secondly, with the successful deployment of the rover on Mars, China becomes the only second country after the US to send a rover to the surface of Mars.
3. Thirdly, China has also become the 1st country to carry out an orbiting, landing, and roving operation during its first mission to Mars.

 

Other Mars Missions: 

1. NASA’s Perseverance Rover. 
2. UAE’s Hope Mars Mission (UAE’s first-ever interplanetary mission). 
3. India’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) or Mangalyaan. 

 

Insta Curious: 

Did you know that the USSR in 1971 became the first country to carry out a Mars landing? Reference: 

 

InstaLinks: 

Prelims Link: 

1. Objectives of the mission. 
2. Others Mars missions. 
3. India’s Mars mission. 

Mains Link: 

Discuss the significance of the mission. 

Sources: the Hindu.