![]() ![]() InSight’s heat shield is visible at left, with the lander in the center and its backshell and parachute to the right. The lander’s two circular solar arrays can just be made out. InSight, its heat shield and the backshell connected to the parachute show up as teal coloured in the photographs, the result of MRO’s camera being saturated by reflected sunlight. The images were captured on 6 and 11 December by the HiRISE camera aboard the MRO spacecraft. ![]() NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has spotted the InSight lander, its parachute and heat shield resting on the dusty surface of Mars along with a dark blast pattern where the lander’s thrusters disturbed the ground moments before touchdown. Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona By the end of February, Mars will have a host of new robot companions in orbit and on its surface - should all go well.Įditor's note: This article has been updated since publication in July 2020, in anticipation for Tianwen-1's arrival at Mars.The InSight lander resting on the surface of Mars. They're now entering the final phase of their cruise. The next-gen rover is carrying a helicopter known as Ingenuity, a tech demonstration that aims to become the first vehicle to fly across the surface of another planet.Īll three missions have been travelling through space for seven months. The space agency launched its Perseverance rover on July 30 last year. NASA, too, is getting in on the Earth exodus. The orbiter will examine and analyze the thin atmosphere on Mars to try and assess why it's so unusual. ![]() Not only will China's Tianwen-1 insert itself into orbit, but the United Arab Emirates have sent their own Martian explorer to the red planet: an orbiter named Hope. July 2020 was an impressively busy time for Mars and Martian explorers, but February is set to be even busier. The expected touchdown date is approximately two to three months after Tianwen-1 arrives in Mars orbit so, if all goes to plan, we can expect it sometime in April or May 2021. The landing site for the rover has been the subject of speculation, but the Nature article confirms it will be somewhere in Utopia Planitia, a vast plain in Mars' northern latitudes and the same place NASA's Viking 2 mission landed in the 1970s. ![]() Over 50% of the missions sent to the red planet fail. As the US and Russia are well aware, Mars is notoriously good at killing off robotic explorers. That requires a good deal of navigational accuracy and a terrifying descent to the surface. The red planet was at its closest point to Earth in late July 2020, at around 36 million miles (58 million kilometers), but Tianwen-1 will still have to navigate a much greater distance to land on Mars' surface sometime in May 2021. Landing on the moon is difficult - and landing on its far side even more so - but Mars is a whole different kettle of cosmic fish. If successful, China will become just the third nation to achieve a landing on Mars. 10, it will spend time orbiting the planet, before dropping its lander and rover down to the surface later in the year. Ye notes it's not unusual for China to be quiet before the mission, but also says he has observed an improvement in the communication over the last decade, noting "nowadays you can see scientists discussing mission concepts on media outlets and lots of discussion on the Chinese space program happening on Weibo."Įven with a lack of information from CNSA, Tianwen-1 is a big deal for space exploration globally. ![]()
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