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Unmanned Spaceflight.com > Mars & Missions > Tianwen 1- 2020 Orbiter/Lander
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Stu
Sounds like one is planned...
remcook
Next year already! It looks like it's been planned for a while then. And so far, China has been pretty good in actually doing what they say the will do. Very interesting...!
Zvezdichko
During the press conference in BAS it was confirmed that China will send an orbiter around Mars during the Phobos-Grunt mission. And yes, this is one of the things that can put off the launch till 2011.
mps
already discussed in Phobos-Grunt topic two years ago:
http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.p...=1844&st=75

EDIT: for more details about Chinese Mars orbiter check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yinghuo-1
remcook
aaah yes I forgot about that. I imagined a stand-alone mission. d'oh smile.gif
Zvezdichko
There may be in the future, but the Chinese space program is focused on lunar exploration smile.gif
mps
Some new details about Yinghuo-1:
QUOTE
designers were still puzzling over how to keep the solar-powered probe functioning during seven "long shadow periods."
The probe would have to pass through seven periods of 8.8 hours in darkness when the sun would be obscured by the red planet, with temperatures plunging to 200 degreesbelow Celsius. While it could turn itself off to conserve energy, the concern was that it might "freeze to death" and not be able to turn itself back on.

Link
Paolo
Apparently, the Chinese delegation at this year's International Astronautical Congress declared that a wholly Chinese, CZ-3 launched probe is planned for 2013, but it has not yet received go-ahead by the government.
Paolo
A rather technical paper on YH-1 "An Emulation Research on the Radio Occultation Exploration of Martian Ionosphere" is available (free of charge) on the first 2010 issue of Elsevier's Chinese Astronomy & Astrophysics
Paolo
Lots of papers (freely accessible but in Chinese) on Yinghuo have been published in the Chinese Journal of Space Science. I think others in the forum may be interested in the paper giving a description and specs of the YH-1 camera.
A few of these are being published in English in Chinese Astronomy and Astrophysics, but for subscribers only (anybody has access to the pdfs? I would be quite interested...).
Note also than an informative paper on YH-1 (in English) and papers on Chang'E 1 and its preliminary results are also available for free on the Chinese Journal of Space Science (vol 28 n 5)
Paolo
I was finally able to get a copy of the two papers on YH-1 "Scientific Objectives of China-Russia Joint Mars Exploration Program YH-1" and "The Key Techniques and Design Features of YH-1 Mars Probe"
Quite a few interesting details: the camera will have a resolution of 500 m at periapsis and Mars will fill its field of view below 10,000 km. It could be used to image Fobos-Grunt just after separation and will collect and store internally up to 10 pictures on each orbit.
As for the spacecraft itself, its bus can be adapted to a number of missions, and with the addition of a propulsion module it could become a small completely autonomous Mars, Venus or Moon orbiter
Paolo
I have long been monitoring Chinese technical publications for papers on deep space missions, and this is one of the first I see on an independent Mars mission.
Research on precise design of the Mars probe ballistic trajectory
Paolo
A short, popular article (in French) on Chinese Martian ambitions
http://www.futura-sciences.com/fr/news/t/a...98/#xtor=RSS-19
two things to retain: it predicts a first independent mission in 2016 and mentions a possible use of CE2 in solar orbit to test long distance communications techniques
Paolo
in preparation for the flight, the Chinese have put up a PDS-like YH-1 mission science archive
http://demo.bjzxcw.cn/yh2/index.html
Paolo
I found these pictures on a French forum. I think they were taken at the Asian Aerospace 2011 airshow.


Paolo
another Chinese Journal of Space Science paper on the scientific objectives of YH-1, in English, for once... A revisit of the phobos events
Paolo
two fantastic pdfs found on the Novosti Kosmonavtiki forum and presented at the 7th UK - China Workshop on Space Science and Technology
Chinese Mars Exploration Mission Analysis
Concept Research of Mars Penetrator
I just love the Yinghuo with penetrators proposal, and the small lander has that ExoMars-esque look...
Paolo
a Chinese Journal of Space Sciences paper on Mars airplanes (which are completely out of fashion in the US and Europe) Mission Planning and Modeling Analysis for Unmanned Aerial Exploration Vehicle on Mars
yaohua2000
2018 Mars mission

http://www.nrscc.gov.cn/nrscc/kjcg/kjcsjs/...0331_30356.html

Objectives:

Orbiter
• Probing the Martian surface topography and geomorphology
• Probing the Martian physical and atmospheric environment
• Imaging the Martian surface mineral material distributions

Lander
• Probing the landing area topography and geomorphology
• Probing the suprastructure and underground water ice
• Martian surface chemical composition in situ analysis
• Martian surface climate monitoring and scientific research

Mars probe:
Click to view attachment

Deep space navigation optical sensor:
Click to view attachment

High-precision dynamic celestial body simulator:
Click to view attachment

Deep-space autonomous navigation experimental verification system:
Click to view attachment

Digital small-scale deep-space responder:
Click to view attachment

Lightweight high-gain directional antenna:
Click to view attachment
monty python
Do I see aerobreaking down the orbit? It would help probe the atmosphere. (my translator isn't clear on this)
Paolo
by the way, the probe and its mission look remarkably similar to those in this presentation I posted one year ago. the launch date appears to have slipped to 2016 and 2018. I guess the mission is still in the project phase and has not yet received the governmental go-ahead

QUOTE (Paolo @ Sep 24 2011, 02:56 PM) *

Cosmic Penguin
I have recently seen rumors that a 2018 Chinese Mars mission has recently passed critical reviews - flying an orbiter and a rover (no, I am not kidding! pancam.gif wheel.gif ) at the same time! That's with the ExoMars rover landing at the same window and MAX-C take 2 coming only 2 years later......

I have the links for the source of rumors here.
Paolo
JPL rover driver Scott Maxwell has a nice analysis of the Chinese Mars rover design recently unveiled in Shanghai
https://plus.google.com/+ScottMaxwell/posts/jQDggja1WJb
see http://english.cri.cn/12394/2014/11/07/53s851410.htm for pics of "the beast"
tolis
QUOTE (Paolo @ Nov 9 2014, 11:20 AM) *
JPL rover driver Scott Maxwell has a nice analysis of the Chinese Mars rover design recently unveiled in Shanghai
https://plus.google.com/+ScottMaxwell/posts/jQDggja1WJb
see http://english.cri.cn/12394/2014/11/07/53s851410.htm for pics of "the beast"


The two flat circular solar panels (reminiscent of Phoenix?) make it ideal for serving drinks at conferences!
elakdawalla
QUOTE (Paolo @ Nov 9 2014, 02:20 AM) *
JPL rover driver Scott Maxwell has a nice analysis of the Chinese Mars rover design recently unveiled in Shanghai

I was wondering, reading Scott's analysis and looking at the photos, whether this prototype Mars rover is meant to look like an actual thing that would get sent to Mars, or whether it's more akin to JPL's FIDO rovers, which was a rover explicitly designed for working on Earth to test systems being developed as prototypes for future Mars systems.
nprev
It seems kinda streamlined, for some odd reason. Maybe it's a more efficient use of volume for encapsulation or something.
Paolo
ESA too was showing a streamlined ExoMars rover at one time
http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/20..._artist_s_view2
Yeh
It looks like the Mars 2020 mission has got a GO from SASTIND:

http://news.sina.com.cn/c/2014-11-29/061031220714.shtml

An orbiter and a rover is planned for the 2020 mission. Nothing new from earlier rumors, except the go-ahead message from SASTIND.
Paolo
the Chinese Mars mission has been officially approved by the government last January, for launch in 2020 (the same launch window as the new US rover, the UAE orbiter and possibly ExoMars "2018"). It will likely consist of an orbiter, some sort of lander and a rover
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2016-04/22/c_135303964.htm
tolis
QUOTE (Paolo @ Apr 22 2016, 03:48 PM) *
the Chinese Mars mission has been officially approved by the government last January, for launch in 2020 (the same launch window as the new US rover, the UAE orbiter and possibly ExoMars "2018"). It will likely consist of an orbiter, some sort of lander and a rover
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2016-04/22/c_135303964.htm


A "Crimson Rabbit" roving Mars. Cool!
Paolo
lots of papers on Mars exploration in the latest issue of the Chinese Journal of Deep Space Exploration (in Chinese, of course)
http://jdse.bit.edu.cn/sktcxben/ch/reader/...mp;quarter_id=2
colin_wilson
Hi - A few news outlets are carrying stories about the 2020 Chinese Mars rover.
This one talks about "13 payloads" - http://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-po...ed-mission-mars
From the article:
QUOTE
The probe will carry 13 payloads including a remote sensing camera and a ground penetrating radar which can be used to study the soil, environment and atmosphere of Mars.
It can also study the distribution of water and ice and the planet’s inner structure.

Does anyone have more information, or links to public documents about what these payloads are?
Steve G
Nothing concrete on the experiment package that I could find. I'm wondering if the lander will act as a stationary laboratory, or at least photograph the rover.
Explorer1
Interesting that the egress is the same as the lunar rovers (two thin rails like a ramp). They look so fragile! Though to be fair so do airbags and skycranes until one sees them in operation.
I do like the 'wings' in the style of MER, aesthetics is always helped by symmetry....
bobik
Candidate Landing Sites mars.gif
Phil Stooke
Is this the only thread we have on this mission? Time for an update. Launch in July, and now a name.

From a thread on the 9ifly forum:

http://www.9ifly.cn/thread-93048-6-1.html

-------------------
China News Network
2 minutes ago from Weibo weibo.com
[Scheduled! # China ’s first Mars exploration mission named Tianwenyihao #] April 24 is the fifth “Chinese Space Day”, the name of China ’s first Mars exploration mission and the mission logo will be launched at the 2020 China Space Day Announced on. The Chinese planetary exploration mission was named "Tianwen" series, the first Mars exploration mission was named "Tianwen-1", and the subsequent planetary missions were numbered sequentially. According to reports, the name is derived from Qu Yuan ’s long poem "Questions of Heaven"*, which expresses the tenacity and perseverance of the Chinese nation in the pursuit of truth, and embodies the cultural inheritance of the exploration of nature and cosmic space. Endless. The mission logo symbolizing "Lan Xing Jiutian" shows the image of the unique letter "C", which brings together the multiple meanings of China's planetary exploration (China), international cooperation spirit (Cooperation), and the ability of deep space exploration into space (C3). Demonstrated the concept and attitude of China's open space cooperation. (People's Daily Client)

* or 'To ask the Heavens'

Phil
nprev
Topic renamed to reflect mission name. Thanks, Phil! smile.gif
Xerxes
-yihao is just how you pronounce -1 in Chinese. The written form of the mission name should be Tianwen-1.

Noted. Title changed. Thanks!
Phil Stooke
Assuming we have a successful landing, I will be monitoring surface activities as usual in a map thread.

Phil
Steve G
I've been unable to find if the lander will be active after rover deployment. Even Andrew Jones tweeted me saying he hasn't heard of anything. I'd suspect they'd want to keep it active for a few days at least to photograph the rover. Have any of you heard otherwise?
Phil Stooke
As far as I can tell from images of the lander, there is no camera like the Terrain Camera on Chang'e 3 and 4. At most there might be small monitoring cameras which the lunar landers carried to show rover egress. It's not clear to me that there is any power on the lander after landing, at least after any batteries are exhausted. I'm assuming, possibly wrongly, that the lander is powered by the orbiter during cruise and orbit, and probably lands under battery power, and then it's done.

What we may see, then, would be one or more monitoring camera shots or videos of egress, preceded by a panorama from the rover camera and followed by a look back from the rover, but then nothing from the lander.

Phil

vjkane
QUOTE (Phil Stooke @ Jul 22 2020, 03:58 PM) *
As far as I can tell from images of the lander, there is no camera like the Terrain Camera on Chang'e 3 and 4. At most there might be small monitoring cameras which the lunar landers carried to show rover egress. It's not clear to me that there is any power on the lander after landing, at least after any batteries are exhausted. I'm assuming, possibly wrongly, that the lander is powered by the orbiter during cruise and orbit, and probably lands under battery power, and then it's done.

What we may see, then, would be one or more monitoring camera shots or videos of egress, preceded by a panorama from the rover camera and followed by a look back from the rover, but then nothing from the lander.

Phil

I've interpreted no solar panels on the lander in the images as it's mission is over after it lands and deploys the ramps. There may be a power cable from the rover to the lander to allow some functions after the landing, but once the rover moves away...
nogal
Searching Alan Boyle's twitter posts I chanced upon a post by Thomas Schumann. At the EPSC-DPS 2019 Joint Meeting the late Dr. Wei Yan gave a presentation about China's first Mars mission. One of the slides clearly shows two landing sites in Utopia Planitia. Thomas also says "As far as I've understood, the Chinese will evaluate final landing sites once in orbit."

Here is a Google Mars globe with the CTX map made available by Google (see the side bar for how to enable the CTX global map) and those two areas marked, and a closer view that shows Area A has very little coverage. However, Google has not mapped every CTX image, so other images may be available (as well as from the HiRISE camera).

Click to view attachment Click to view attachment

This is the kmz file I used to mark the areas. Click to view attachment

Fernando


Phil Stooke
The slide with those landing sites shows two boxes and two sets of coordinates. They don't match up exactly. It's not clear which is correct. Most likely the written coordinates are correct and the drawn boxes were only approximate.

CTX now has essentially global coverage.

Phil
nogal
Thank you Phil. Do keep me honest!

The boxes from my kmz are drawn with the coordinates, themselves marked as approximate, shown in the slide. The boxes seen in the slide appear to be smaller than the GE file ones.
GE's CTX map does not have complete coverage, it is obvious. I have come across many CTX images not included in GE's "CTX global map" while searching for polygonal ridges for a Zooniverse project. Glad you confirm CTX coverage is now nearly complete. Cheers

Fernando
Antdoghalo
QUOTE (nogal @ Jul 24 2020, 12:14 PM) *
Searching Alan Boyle's twitter posts I chanced upon a post by Thomas Schumann. At the EPSC-DPS 2019 Joint Meeting the late Dr. Wei Yan gave a presentation about China's first Mars mission. One of the slides clearly shows two landing sites in Utopia Planitia. Thomas also says "As far as I've understood, the Chinese will evaluate final landing sites once in orbit."

Here is a Google Mars globe with the CTX map made available by Google (see the side bar for how to enable the CTX global map) and those two areas marked, and a closer view that shows Area A has very little coverage. However, Google has not mapped every CTX image, so other images may be available (as well as from the HiRISE camera).

Click to view attachment Click to view attachment

This is the kmz file I used to mark the areas. Click to view attachment

Fernando

Quite true, Google's CTX layer is 9 years old and MRO has since mapped almost the entire planet with it aside from a couple tiny areas in the poles
https://themis.asu.edu/maps I used this site to find HiRise and CTX images that are not available in GE, (though I wish you could sort by year it's hard to find pre-post landing pictures when there's 100s of HiRISE images saturating a location)
Phil Stooke
http://murray-lab.caltech.edu/CTX/

This is a link to the global mosaic. I think you can get it a tile at a time, not sure if you can also navigate the mosaic like the lunar and Mercury Quickmaps.

Phil

nogal
Many thanks for the link Phil.
Laura Kerber had mentioned to me that creation of a global mosaic was ongoing, which might be useful to another project I'm working on, but I never got to use it.
Looking at the linked LPSC abstract I feel very sure this is the one she mentioned. There is a lot to explore here, it is truly gigantic! Thanks again

Fernando
Hungry4info
There's a video here talking about the rover -- very general information. Of interest is driving tests, and apparently the fact that the rover has steering motors on all six wheels. They showed a demonstration rover driving "sideways."

The Tianwen-1 Mars rover
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KquNADst7r8
Phil Stooke
http://9ifly.spacety.com/forum.php?mod=vie...ge=84#pid756198



This post on the Chinese 9ifly forum says (Google translation):

"The landing site was mentioned in the article "Running the Fire: Flying to "Utopia"" published by the China Aerospace Journal.

The preferred landing site for the "Tianwen-1" Mars exploration mission is located at the southern end of the Martian Utopia Plain, which belongs to the lowland unit of the late Hesperia period (110.318 degrees east longitude, 24.748 degrees north latitude). The alternative location is located in the southeastern part of the Utopia Plain, in the Erythian Volcanic magma flow zone, close to the entrance of the Erythian Volcanic magma into the Utopian Plain."

I have not been able to find the article but if anyone has a source i would like to know about it. This is within the western of the two boxes Nogal mentioned.

Phil
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