China succeeds in landing its Jurong robot on Mars

This is the first for China. The Tianwen-1 Lander, on Saturday, May 15, was able to land successfully “Pre-defined zone” On Mars, its remote-controlled robot Jurong aired a special edition of CCTV state television, «Signal Obtained on earth. The landing took place on a vast plain in the northern hemisphere of Mars known as “Utopia Planetia”.

Landing on the Red Planet is particularly difficult, and many European, Soviet and American missions have failed in the past. During a joint mission with Russia, China already attempted to send a probe to Mars in 2011. But the attempt failed and Beijing then decided to pursue the adventure alone. This is the first independent attempt by the Chinese.

“Jurong” operates for three months

The Chinese began their non-resident Tianwen-1 mission from Earth at the end of July 2020, named for the space mission. It consisted of three components: an orbiter (which orbits the star), a lander (which landed on Mars) and the remote-controlled robot Jurong.

In February, China already had a successful Tianwen-1 trial Taking pictures of Mars orbit and the Red Planet. Early Saturday morning, this time he was able to land a lander on Mars, which would allow the remote-controlled robot Jurong to come out. It is a world that carries out all three of these activities during an initial journey to Mars.

Weighing in at 200kg and equipped with four solar panels to deliver its electricity, the Jurong will operate for three months. It is equipped with cameras, radar and light beams, which allow it to specifically study its environment and analyze the composition of Martian rocks.

The name “Jurang” was chosen after online research and refers to the god of fire in Chinese mythology. A code justified by the name of Mars in Chinese: «Hooksing, Really “Fiery Planet”.