Beijing joins Mars club after ‘nine minutes of terror’
Auf einen Blick
- China's Zhu Rong rover successfully landed on Mars on May 15, making it the third country to achieve this feat.
- The mission, part of the Tianwen-1, involved a challenging "nine minutes of terror" during descent due to signal delay.
KI-generierte Zusammenfassung
Warum es wichtig ist
China has become the third country to successfully land a rover on Mars after a seven-month journey. The landing occurred on May 15, following three months in orbit.
Beijing joins Mars club after ‘nine minutes of terror’
By William Zheng
This article was first published on May 16, 2021
After seven months of space travel, three months in orbit and “nine minutes of terror”, China has become the third country in the world to safely land a rover on Mars.
The China National Space Administration (CNSA) said its rover Zhu Rong – named after the Chinese god of fire and war – successfully landed on Mars yesterday after “nine minutes of terror”, referring to Nasa’s description of the period of descent, when engineers on Earth have no control or oversight of the rover because of the radio signal delay.
“The scientific research team confirmed via the telemetry signal sent by the Zhu Rong Mars rover that on May 15, the Tianwen-1 Lander successfully landed in the preselected landing area in the Utopia Plain of southern Mars,” CNSA said.
President Xi Jinping said in a written congratulatory message that the mission was an important step in China’s space exploration.
Scientists should continue their exploration of Mars and accelerate China’s development as a space power.
Offene Fragen
- What are the specific scientific objectives of the Zhu Rong rover?
- What are the long-term plans for China's Mars exploration program?
- How will this achievement impact international space cooperation?
