Chinese spacecraft "Tianwen 1" took a new photo of Mars

Right now, the Chinese is moving towards Mars.station "Tianwen-1", which was launched in July 2020 using the carrier rocket "Changzheng-5". It consists of two important parts: a satellite for studying the planet from a high altitude and a lander, inside which there is a rover. The station has not officially started exploring Mars, but the results of the work are already there. Recently, Chinese scientists received from her a black-and-white image of the Red Planet, which clearly shows the plains, craters and other significant places of interest to scientists. The photo was taken from a distance of about 2.2 million kilometers, but at the time of writing, the station is much closer to the planet. I propose to carefully study the photo and figure out which territories of Mars are visible on it.

The approximate (!) Location of the places that will be discussed in the article

Content

• 1 Acidalian Plain on Mars
• 2 Meridian Plateau on Mars
• 3 Schiaparelli crater on Mars
• 4 Mariner Valley on Mars
• 5 Why is the Tianwen 1 mission needed?

Acidal plain on Mars

On the first results of the Chinese missionTianwen 1 was featured in Science Alert. Several interesting regions can be seen in the black-and-white photo. Firstly, this is the so-called Acidalia Planitia - a plane on the territory of Mars about 3 thousand kilometers long. This area got its name in honor of the Acidalian source from ancient Greek myths, in which the goddess of love Aphrodite bathed. It is believed that once upon a time the plain was covered with water. There are also traces of volcanic activity on it. It is on this flat area that the famous "face" is located - a formation that conspiracy theorists call the trace of extraterrestrial civilizations.

Acidalian Plain. Photo from the European Space Agency

Meridian Plateau on Mars

Secondly, the plateau is clearly visible in the photo.Meridian (Meridiani Planum). It is also a fairly large plain south of the equator of Mars. Scientists believe there is a lot of crystalline hematite on this plateau. This is the name of one of the minerals of iron, which in ancient times was used as a red dye. For example, with the help of such paint, some rock paintings of cavemen were painted. On Earth, hematite often forms in hot springs and stagnant bodies of water. Therefore, scientists have good reason to believe that there was water on Mars millions of years ago.

The Meridian Plateau through the eyes of the Opportunity apparatus

Schiaparelli crater on Mars

Thirdly, the Tianwen-1 station capturedimpact crater Schiaparelli. Its dimensions are approximately 400 × 460 kilometers. The indentation was left after an impact with a fairly large space object. Scientists believe that this crater is much better preserved than other Martian depressions. However, it is still badly destroyed, and also filled with lava and sedimentary rocks. The Schiaparelli crater was featured in the movie The Martian as the landing site for the Ares 4 mission.

Schiaparelli crater, collected from images of the "Viking-1"

Mariner Valley on Mars

Fourth, in the photo you can see the valleysMariner (Valles Marineris). This is the name of the huge network of canyons that was discovered in the 1970s by the Mariner-9 apparatus. The Valleys of the Mariners stretch for 4,500 kilometers and occupy a quarter of the planet's circumference. Most likely, it is similar to the Grand Canyon located in Arizona, but 10 times longer. It is believed that these canyons formed in the early stages of the formation of Mars, in the process of its cooling. The width of the canyons could have increased under the influence of water.

The Mariner Valley as seen by the artist

See also: Where should a tourist go on Mars?

Why is the Tianwen 1 mission needed?

Tianwen 1 station will enter Mars orbit 10February and will begin to explore the area into which the landing platform will be lowered. Only the rover will not be launched to the surface until May 2021. As part of the mission, scientists want to learn more about the environment of Mars. There is also hope that they will be able to find traces of current or existing life. In general, if during the mission there are no serious problems, China will prove that it can create devices for the study of Mars. Until now, only the USSR and the USA have managed to carry out a soft landing on the Red Planet.

Research vehicles "Tianwen-1"

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In addition to the Tianwen-1 station, in February to Marsthe Arabian Hope probe and the American Perseverance apparatus will get there. More details of the mission conducted by the United Arab Emirates can be found in a recent article by my colleague Lyubov Sokovikova. And we have written about Perseverance many times. If you would like to know more about it, follow this link. It tells what work will be done within the mission, what the rover of the same name will do, and how oxygen will be extracted on Mars. Enjoy reading!