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EI2GYB > ASTRO 08.09.21 09:57l 91 Lines 4601 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 14219_EI2GYB
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Subj: China's Zhurong Mars rover returns panorama ahead of planet
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Sent: 210908/0752Z @:EI2GYB.DGL.IRL.EURO #:14219 BPQ6.0.22
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China's Zhurong Mars rover returns panorama ahead of planetary blackout
China's Mars rover Zhurong has produced a remarkable new panorama of its
surroundings in Utopia Planitia to mark 100 days of activity on the Red Planet
as preparations continue for the rover to spend more than a month in safe mode
this autumn.
The six-wheeled, solar-powered rover has covered 3,491 feet (1,064 meters)
since rolling onto the Martian surface on May 22. But from mid-September to
late October, the rover and its orbiting companion, Tianwen-1, will be in safe
mode as the sun's charged particles interfere with their communication with
Earth.
In preparation for the break, Zhurong paused to take a good look around with
its panoramic camera. The returned image shows the rover and its solar arrays
and antenna close to a dune, a feature type that mission scientists are keen
for Zhurong to analyze. A number of distant features can be seen on the horizon
of the panorama including, above Zhurong's antenna, the backshell from the
rover's landing in May. Zhurong visited the discarded gear up close in July.
Since landing on May 14 and deploying onto the surface a week later, Zhurong
has been moving south from its landing platform, analyzing different rocks,
dunes and other features as it goes.
The Tianwen-1 orbiter with which Zhurong hitched a ride to Mars has been
orbiting so that it passes over Zhurong once a day to relay data to mission
control in China. The National Astronomical Observatories of China (NAOC) also
released an image from Tianwen-1's high resolution camera which shows Zhurong's
journey from the lander, including tracks the rover left in the Martian surface.
Meanwhile, a new paper on the geological characteristics of Zhurong's landing
area identifies a number of features and landforms that scientists working on
the mission hope to study as the rover continues south.
According to the paper, the rover will investigate transverse aeolian ridges,
or dunes, as well as troughs, caused by erosion, and particularly mysterious
pitted cones. One of the scientists' key objectives is to use Zhurong's ground
penetrating radar to determine the thickness and distribution of Martian soil
near some landforms hypothesized to have been created by the presence of
subsurface water or ice.
The presence of water would have profound implications for understanding of the
climate history of Mars, potential resources for future crewed missions and
even as a habitat for simple subsurface life.
The paper also notes that a number of pitted cones are present a number of
kilometers to the south of the rover's position. A close-up look at these with
Zhurong's terrain camera, multispectral camera, and Mars Surface Composition
Detector could help provide fresh insights into how these features were formed,
since current hypotheses range from volcanism, mud- or hydrovolcanism, or even
underground water flows.
Despite their industry, both Zhurong and Tianwen-1 will soon go into safe mode
because of a solar conjunction preventing communications between Earth and
Mars. Both spacecraft will pause activities from mid-September through late
October, as the sun and the charged particles it releases will obscure our view
of Mars from Earth and interfere with radio communications between the two
planets.
Both spacecraft will autonomously carry out health assessments, self-monitoring
and trouble-shooting until communications can be restored.
The China National Space Administration and the People's Bank of China also
jointly released silver and gold commemorative coins featuring the rover to
celebrate Zhurong's 100 days on Mars.
Images:
https://www.space.com/china-zhurong-mars-rover-communications-blackout-panoramam
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