China's first Mars exploration mission was an unprecedented feat, with the Tianwen-1 probe successfully entering Mars orbit and landing, and the Zhurong rover completing the roving mission, creating a number of records and miracles. However, the Zhurong rover has lost contact and is unable to continue its work, but we should still be thankful, respectful, and commemorating its contributions. In the future, we should continue to explore Mars to achieve more innovations and breakthroughs.
Don't look forward any longer, the Zhurong mission is over
It is now the end of March 2024, and according to the most optimistic estimates, December 2023 (the end of the Martian summer) should be the deadline for Zhurong to wake up on its own.
According to the normal wake-up procedure, the wake-up process of Zhurong is as follows:
- 1. Solar cell power generation heats the rover capsule through the wake-up load circuit;
- 2. After the rover wakes up, the solar cell generates power through the MPPT circuit and enters the bus to supply power to the rover;
- 3. After setting the wake-up, the series temperature relay in the wake-up circuit controls the battery to wake up;
- 4. When the temperature of the battery reaches the temperature threshold, the temperature relay is closed, and the voltage difference generated by the wake-up resistance acts on both ends of the wake-up relay wire wrap, and when the power of the solar cell reaches the threshold, the PCU power supply is energized, and the rover wakes up;
After waking up, the Zhurong rover will adjust the antenna to align the relay Tianwen-1 orbiter to "tell" the news that it has woken up, and Tianwen-1 will relay this signal to the Earth's space control center, and we will know that Zhurong has woken up!
Zhurong's normal wake-up flow chart
Zhurong is still silent, combined with the analysis of the photos of the Hirise high-resolution camera of the American Mars reconnaissance satellite MRO (Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter) imaging Zhurong, the Zhurong rover has been covered with thick dust and is completely unable to receive sunlight to generate electricity.
It shows that the sandstorm in the northern hemisphere of Mars in autumn and winter is quite raging, and the sand it rolls up obscures the sky and the sun, causing a devastating blow to the solar wing of Zhurong, resulting in its complete inability to generate electricity, Zhurong has been lying on its stomach since May 2022, motionless, but the dust on its body is getting deeper and deeper, indicating that the solar wing has not received solar energy.
The dust on the surface of the Zhurong rover is getting thicker and thicker
Mars is the graveyard of human probes
Because there are many factors involved that cannot be woken up, and the solar charging efficiency is not up to the requirements, which is only one of the most important factors in the setting.
History has already been made, and Tianwen-3 will be even better in the future
On June 1, 2021, the Zhurong rover's separation camera captured a photo of the Zhurong rover and the landing platform, which was the first time in human history that images of the rover's surface movement were obtained.
From the transmitted pictures, we can see that the landing area of the Zhurong rover is relatively flat, but the surrounding environment is very desolate. It feels a lot like the desert or the Gobi on our planet, which is even more desolate than most people think.
In addition, Zhurong also transmitted the sound of Mars, which allowed humans to hear the sound from Mars for the first time. A unique sight on Mars The sight on the surface of Mars is unique and there are many places worth exploring for humans.
As of May 5, 2022, the Zhurong Mars rover has traveled 1.921 kilometers, which is quite remarkable and does not need to be too harsh.
So we don't want too much from Zhurong, the first time to explore the path, the second time to do the right thing, do you know what China's aerospace is going to do? Tianwen-3, Mars sample return! The planned return time has already exceeded the time of NASA's Mars sample return, assuming that both sides carry out smoothly, China's aerospace will bring back Martian soil samples more than two years earlier than NASA.
China is bringing Martian soil back to Earth for research, hoping to find out the mystery of the disappearance of water on Mars
In the end, Tianwen No. 1 is a pathfinder, one is born, and the second is ripe. It is believed that the feat of the Chinese in the return of samples on Mars will perform well.