On May 14, 2021, the Chinese Spacecraft Tianwen 1 carrying rover Zhurong landed on Utopia Planitia region, Mars successfully.This makes China only the second country after the US to send a rover to the surface of the Red Planet.
Key points:
i.Tianwen 1was launched in July 2020 on a Long March 5 rocket and it has been orbiting Mars for three months now.
ii.The lander that carried the Zhurong rover touched down the Martian surface successfully and it landed in the Utopia Planitia region.
iii.However, when the lander entered the Martian atmosphere, the spacecraft endured “Seven Minutes of Terror” as that of the Mars Perseverance rover of NASA.
iv.The EDL phase, called the Entry Descent Landing, is called the “Seven Minutes Terror” phase. The phase happens faster than the time taken by the radio signals to reach the Earth from Mars.
v.The rover, which weighs 240 kilograms, can last three Martian months, about 92 days on Earth.
Note:
The rover was named Zhurong after an ancient Chinese god of fire, which will explore the surface near the landing site.
About China:
Capital – Beijing
Currency – Renminbi
President – Xi Jinping
