China releases first Tianwen-1 images of rover landing site
The new colonial movement: China yesterday released the first two images taken by its Mars orbiter Tianwen-1 of its planned rover landing site in the northern lowland plains of Mars.
The image to the right is a mosaic of two wide angle photos from the context camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). The white cross is the spot of the latitude and longitude that had previously been leaked to the Chinese press as the landing site. The white box shows the area covered by the only high resolution MRO photo, as of October 2020. Since then MRO has taken a number of additional high resolution images of this area.
The red boxes mark the areas covered by Tianwen-1’s two new images. Below is a reduced version of the larger of these two photos.
Click for full image.
These two images confirm that this location was the rover’s prime landing site. However, the release of the images also included the announcement that they have pushed back the rover landing from late April to May or even June. Either they have decided it is going to take more time to cover this area with reconnaissance photos, or these first photos have forced them to reconsider the landing site.
That these two photos keyed in on the two largest features in this area suggests they are assessing the landing site. We do not know how much smooth territory the lander needs to settle down between these large features. Nor do we know the exact technology the lander will use to maneuver its way down. It could be it will use these images as reference, which means they must collect enough images to cover the entire area before landing.
Or it could be these images have told them this location won’t work and thus the delay in landing.
I think the answer is the former. However, we will have to wait to find out. China’s government is not going to be forthcoming with many details.
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The new colonial movement: China yesterday released the first two images taken by its Mars orbiter Tianwen-1 of its planned rover landing site in the northern lowland plains of Mars.
The image to the right is a mosaic of two wide angle photos from the context camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). The white cross is the spot of the latitude and longitude that had previously been leaked to the Chinese press as the landing site. The white box shows the area covered by the only high resolution MRO photo, as of October 2020. Since then MRO has taken a number of additional high resolution images of this area.
The red boxes mark the areas covered by Tianwen-1’s two new images. Below is a reduced version of the larger of these two photos.
Click for full image.
These two images confirm that this location was the rover’s prime landing site. However, the release of the images also included the announcement that they have pushed back the rover landing from late April to May or even June. Either they have decided it is going to take more time to cover this area with reconnaissance photos, or these first photos have forced them to reconsider the landing site.
That these two photos keyed in on the two largest features in this area suggests they are assessing the landing site. We do not know how much smooth territory the lander needs to settle down between these large features. Nor do we know the exact technology the lander will use to maneuver its way down. It could be it will use these images as reference, which means they must collect enough images to cover the entire area before landing.
Or it could be these images have told them this location won’t work and thus the delay in landing.
I think the answer is the former. However, we will have to wait to find out. China’s government is not going to be forthcoming with many details.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
IF, it actually hits the planet and does not RUD, it will likely “see” a scene very much like what Sojourner, Spirit and Opportunity, Curiosity, and Perseverance have observed over the past decades.
With respect to the entry, descent, and landing technology the Chinese might use, I see three basic options:
1. Skycrane
2. Airbag
3. Retrorockets
I think it must be Airbag, since it is the simplest choice and they have Spirit and Opportunity to copy.
Retrorockets leave you carrying your landing equipment around on a solar-powered rover, reducing ground performance significantly, thus they have been used only on stationary landers.
Skycrane seems risky for a highly-politically-visible first effort.
Other options, or conclusions?
Ray Van Dune: I think they will be using a combination of retrorockets and airbags. See this post from November 2019: China unveils Mars lander during landing simulation test
The test showed rockets being used to control the landing. I have read elsewhere that airbags will also be involved.
Bob, I do not understand what I am seeing in that Chinese video, but it looks like a nightmare rig! But I was wrong in saying retros were only used on landers not rovers. I was thinking only of on-vehicle retros, but I forgot about the retro packs used below the parachutes by Spirit and Opportunity, and fired at the last moment to cushion the landing of the airbag “ball”. I’ll bet the Chinese use that retro-airbag combo.