Originally written by Smriti Mallapaty
The data transmitted by Tianwen-1 and Zhurong reveal important clues in the "uninhabited" region of the northern hemisphere of Mars.
More than 30 scientists Chinese mainland and Hong Kong and Macau are working non-stop on data from the Zhurong rover and the Tianwen-1 orbiter. Multiple studies have been published, but researchers say more will emerge in the coming weeks and months to help us better understand the climate, geology and history of the northern hemisphere of Mars.
The National Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences is responsible for receiving this data from space. Since September 2021, the National Astronomical Observatory has released nearly 200 GB of data, which was collected by eight devices aboard Zhurong and Tianwen-1 between February and June this year. The equipment includes multiple cameras, a radar system, multiple Martian weather gauges, and a laser spectrometer.
Some features of the Surface of Mars, such as suspected sediments and mud volcanoes, suggest that there was once running water here. To that end, scientists are trying to search for clues to the existence of water ice beneath the surface of Mars. Wu Bo, a planetary scientist at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University who is analyzing some of the data, believes that this may provide evidence that ancient oceans once existed on Mars, which is "of great scientific significance."
This image taken by Zhu Rong in July captured some of the equipment that brought its safe delivery to Mars by its parachute and entry module. Source: China National Space Administration
In February this year, Tianwen-1 entered the ring fire orbit. In May, Tianwen-1 dropped a lander on Mars, and the Zhurong on board successfully landed on a vast basin on Mars, the Utopian Plain. Zhu Rong was originally designed to have a service life of 3 months, and has now begun to enter service beyond its schedule. Zhu Rong traveled more than 1,000 meters in four months, not only visiting the Martian landforms that scientists intended to investigate, but also "passing" the part that helped it fall into the fire into the capsule and the abandoned parachute.
Communication interruption
In September, Zhu Rong went into hibernation under the remote control of the National Space Administration, because at this time, from Earth, Mars ran to the back of the sun, which would cause communications to be interrupted. However, Zhu Rong was awakened again in October and has since traveled another 200 meters, this time targeting a coastline that may have been an ancient ocean.
The month-long "disappearance" freed up scientists at various research institutions in China to analyze the data. In fact, as early as March this year, some researchers have obtained images of Mars taken by Tianwen-1; the China National Space Administration has also released some pictures and videos taken by Zhu Rong during landing and on the surface of Mars. However, scientists are currently studying the data released in September, which is much larger than the one in March.
This batch of data includes images taken by Zhurong's terrain navigation camera; climate data such as temperature, air pressure, and wind speed; information on the chemical composition of Martian rocks, soils, and dunes collected by laser spectrometers; and mars subsurface information collected by subsurface exploration radar.
Prior to this, in addition to some of the image data released by the China National Space Administration, there were not many research results published or published by the Mars mission. The researchers believe this is because it takes time to process and clean the data.
Pan Lu, a planetary scientist at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, explained that this step can ensure the reliability of the data and eliminate interference from the payload equipment. This is the first time China has launched a probe to the surface of other planets, so the pace will naturally be a little slower than NASA's latest Mars mission. Pan Lu said: "Since it is the first time, there is always a learning process. ”
David Flannery, an astrobiologist at the Queensland University of Technology in Australia, is in contact with Chinese scientists who believe the mission team's approach to data management may also have delayed the publication of new results. David Flannery has also participated in NASA's Perseverance mission to Mars. Each payload of Perseverance is designed by a different team that can exclusively share data on their design payload several months in advance before making it available to everyone.
However, under the model of the China National Space Administration, all the data collected by zhurong and tianwen-1 payloads must first be processed by the national astronomical observatory and then provided to the mission-related scientific research team.
In this photo released by NASA in July, a lander that slowly landed on the surface of Mars snapped a parachute overhead. Source: China National Space Administration
Accelerate analytics
Two papers have been published so far. A preprint paper in late September[1] analyzed images and friction data collected during the zhurong wheel's travels. Studies have shown that the area over which Zhu Rong rolls over is characterized by similar to the tightly textured sandy soils on Earth.
Xiao Long, a planetary scientist at the China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), is also conducting his own research. He said the study "provides useful data for determining the properties of Mars' topsoil" to help understand the formation of soil and dust on the Martian surface.
Another study[2] published in August accurately located Zhu Rong's Martian coordinates using high-resolution images taken by Tianwen-1. The researchers believe that more results will be available in the future, including some studies on the topography of the region.
The data is currently only available to researchers directly involved in the mission, but Wu Bo said that in the future, the data will be opened to the public and the international community by the National Astronomical Observatory.
This may speed up the analysis. Flannery believes that after the disclosure, more experienced Martian scientists will be able to determine the geomorphological characteristics and their research value as early as possible. "Geologists are only good at rocks they've seen before, but there are some parts of Mars that are unusual," he said. ”
The next step in the task
For now, Zhu Rong will continue to explore Mars, like some of NASA's Mars probes, and its service time may be as long as several years.
At the same time, the work of Tianwen-1 is also in full swing, and an orbit correction has just been carried out not long ago. Previously, the main responsibility of Tianwen-1 was to undertake relay communications between Zhurong and Earth; after the orbit correction, Tianwen-1 will also independently carry out Mars observations. Fa Wenzhe, a planetary scientist at Peking University who is analyzing Zhu Rong's radar data, said that on November 11, the China National Space Administration deployed Tianwen-1's radar antenna and began testing.
In early November, China's China National Space Administration (CSA) and the European Space Agency (ESA) collaborated to test whether ESA's Mars Express orbiter could serve as a relay for Zhu Rong and Earth. Pan Lu believes that the test is a "welcome step" in terms of increasing international cooperation with China.
As Zhu Rong continues to roam Mars, Wu Bo said he and his team summarized the characteristics of the Surface of Mars with important scientific value and made suggestions for future data collection on this basis.
bibliography
[1] Ding, L. et al. Preprint at Research Square https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-836162/v1 (2021).
[2] Wan, W. et al. Remote Sens. 13, 3439 (2021).
The original article was published in the news section of Nature on November 30, 2021, under the headline China's Mars rover has amassed reams of novel geological data
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