China assumes that its rover is traveling on Mars for the first time

Motorized mobile rover China The remote-controlled plane descended from the ramp of the landing capsule on Saturday and reached a surface Mars, Which makes the Asian giant The first country to rotate, land and deploy a land craft on its first mission to that planet.

Zorong, Named after the legendary Chinese god of fire, descended to a roof Mars At 10:40 a.m. Beijing time (2:40 p.m. GMT, 9:40 p.m. Mexico time), according to the vehicle’s official account on social media.

China Joined this month United State As the only countries that have deployed land vehicles Mars. The Soviet Union A ship landed in 1971, but lost contact seconds later.

The ZorongIt weighs 240 kg and houses six scientific instruments, including a high-resolution topographic camera, to study the soil and the planet’s atmosphere.

What is the mission of the Chinese rover?

Solar powered buggy too It will look for signs of ancient life, including water and ice beneath the surface, Using Earth-penetrating radar as it explores the surface of Mars for 90 days.

Zorong It will move and stop at slow intervals, each capable of being its own Only 10 meters for three days, According to the official China Space News publication.

“The rover’s slow is due to poor knowledge of the Martian environment. Jia Yang, the engineer involved in the mission, told “China Space News” that a relatively conservative working method was specially designed.

Jia added that he did not rule out an acceleration of the last stage of the rover mission, depending on its operational status at that time.

He stressed that the rover is designed to be highly autonomous because the distance to Mars320 million km It takes 40 minutes for the signal to travel in both directions, which is an obstacle to real-time control of the rover.

He explained that the temperatures on Mars are also a problem, as the nightly dip in levels to minus 130 degrees Celsius leads to freezing carbon dioxide, which leads to covering the Earth with a layer of dry ice, which poses a danger to the rover.

Zorong It has an automatic suspension system that can raise and lower its frame by 60 cm, The only rover of this capacity, according to Chinese Space News. In addition, it is covered with nanoaerogel panels to protect its structure from the cold.

Dust storms could also affect the rover’s ability to generate power through solar panels, Jia said. To avoid this, he added, the surface of the panels is made of a material that does not get stained easily with dust and can vibrate by vibration.