China’s Mars Mission

Let’s take a little closer look at the upcoming China mission to the Red Planet. A couple of years ago I wrote a book about space exploration and covered what was happening with the Chinese space program.  And, I’ve spent the past few entries looking at their ambitious plans. Of course, their scientists are conducting and planning a number of missions. I’m pleased to see China become the latest country to join in the exploration of Mars, and I’ve been following that with interest.

Later this year—probably in July or August—the Chinese National Space Administration will launch their Huoxing mission to Mars. It will land in 2021.  Huoxing is a temporary name and means “Mars” in Mandarin. The spacecraft combines a remote sensing orbiter and a small rover that will land on the planet. Between the two components, the mission will carry twelve instruments. The orbiter will have two cameras, giving it high-resolution and medium-resolution “eyes” on the planet. There’s also a radar instrument to study the subsurface, plus a spectrometer to do mineralogy, a magnetometer, and particle analyzers.

The rover has a multispectral camera so it can take images at different wavelengths. It also is equipped with spectroscopy instruments, ground-penetrating radar and other sensors that will study the climate and magnetic environment.  The rover will work independently at times and with its orbiter for joint science studies.  It will land somewhere in Utopia Planitia, and the Chinese have identified two possible sites as final targets.

Getting Ready for Mars

The Chinese have been testing the instruments on the spacecraft as the whole assembly goes through integration. We all saw images last year when they did a landing test using a model of the rover.  It’s all pretty standard for such a complex and exacting project.

The spacecraft will head to space atop a Long March 5 rocket. We saw them successfully launch a satellite using this rocket in late December.  Just this week, China did a successful booster engine test on the actual rocker, a Long March 5 Y4.  So, the pieces and parts for this mission are falling into place for the Chinese.

This mission is not just valuable for its science, but it’s also a precursor or pathfinder for a sample return mission that China is looking at doing in the 2030s. This mission could also cache some samples during its prime mission for later retrieval by another spacecraft. 

Once on Mars…

When the orbiter and lander get to Mars, Chinese scientists have an ambitious program planned. One of the main objectives is to look for current and/or previous life signs. It will also study the surface and environment over a long period of time. Huoxing will be busy with soil studies and topographic measurements to the examination of Martian water ice. The atmosphere and ionosphere will also come in for a closer look. In short, Huoxing will be doing all the things anybody would want to know about a planet and parts as they plan future missions. Stay tuned for more from China as it develops!

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