Tianwen-1 Spacecraft Development Team

The Tianwen-1 Spacecraft Development Team offered an innovative option for successful Mars exploration and outstanding contributed to the advance in deep space exploration technology. Tianwen-1 Mission achieved orbiting, landing, and roving on Mars in one mission for the first time globally. The scientific data acquired during the mission made an essential contribution to a deeper understanding of Mars and the solar system.

Implications to the progress of space activities on a global scale:

The success rate of Mars exploration missions in the world is only 50% due to the technological challenges and risks. The Tianwen-1 spacecraft development team has provided the world with innovative options for Mars exploration. This is the first time orbiting, landing and roving on Mars has been accomplished in a single mission. The successful implementation of the Tianwen-1 mission has not only made an important contribution to deepening the understanding of Mars, but also enhanced the enthusiasm and confidence of countries to further explore Mars.

During the research and development of the Tianwen-1 probe, the Tianwen-1 spacecraft development team made innovation and fusion across technological disciplines, including system engineering, automatic control, pneumatics research, telemetry track & command (TT&C), advanced materials, space propulsion, and parachute deceleration. Taken together these represent advances in space technology and exploration capability, and represent a significant contribution to progress in Mars exploration technologies. The critical technology breakthroughs and valuable experiences achieved by this team will also provide powerful technological support to deep space exploration missions in the future. Furthermore, the Tianwen-1 spacecraft development team carried out international cooperation in many fields such as payload development, communication relay, TT&C, significantly improving international exchange and technological development in Mars exploration.

According to the mission planning made by the Tianwen-1 spacecraft development team, Tianwen-1 probe has accomplished the first exploration into the southern part of Utopia Planitia on Mars, filling a gap in this area; it also acquired first-hand multi-dimensional and multi-elemental data on Mars in terms of surface topography, material composition, magnetic field, and meteorology, which will significantly enrich the global Martian research. In the future, the Tianwen-1 orbiter will conduct moderate-resolution remote sensing coverage over the entire Mars and high-resolution observation over critical areas. The Martian rover is expected to achieve long-term exploration to the mud volcanic landform and the coastlines of the Martian paleo-ocean on the southern part of the landing area, which will offer more high-quality scientific exploration outcomes such as Martian climatic revolution and water/ice distribution to facilitate a deep understanding of Mars and additional knowledge on the Earth and the solar system.

Detailed description of the achievement which the team accomplished:

The Tianwen-1 spacecraft development team has provided the world with innovative options for Mars exploration. Tianwen-1 Mission achieved orbiting, landing, and roving on Mars in a mission. It is the first time such a combined approach has been made. The probe consists of an orbiter and a landing rover. On July 23, 2020, the probe was launched successfully in Wenchang, Hainan, China. On February 10, 2021, the probe successfully entered orbit around Mars, becoming the first man-made Martian satellite of China orbiting Mars. On May 15, 2021, the orbiter and the landing rover were separated. The landing rover landed on the preselected landing site on the southern part of the Utopia Planitia. On May 22, 2021, the rover traveled off the landing platform to the Martian surface with great success. It started roving exploration, representing China became the second nation for successful landing and effective exploration on Mars. On June 11, 2021, China National Space Administration (CNSA) released the first scientific data after landing on Mars. On August 15, 2021, the rover completed the preset mission for 90 Martian days and initiated the expanded roving exploration missions. As of December 31, 2021, the rover had traveled for about 1.4km in total. On November 8, 2021, the orbiter entered remote sensing orbit, marking the initiation of remote sensing over the entire Mars and acting as a relay for the transmission of science data from the rover.

The Tianwen-1 spacecraft development team demonstrated the first overall solution to orbiting, landing, and roving Mars. A series of key technologies for interplanetary exploration have been broken through. The team has adopted a “ballistic-lift” pneumatic deceleration scheme based on deployable trim tab aerodynamic configuration to address the challenges of trim attack angle affecting parachute deployment and instability of short bluff body with minimized cost on mass, which was the first attempt in the world. Some other breakthroughs in critical technologies have been realized, including the design of multistage deceleration system for entry/descent/landing, high-precision prediction of aerodynamic force and heat, fully autonomous navigation guidance & control, reliable separation of multiple bodies in complex flow fields, engineering environmental parameter modeling and landing site safety assessment. The team has also made breakthroughs in products research and development, such as lightweight heat resistant material, large supersonic parachute and bipropellant variable thrust engine with medium chamber pressure. Then the safety and high-precision soft landing on the surface of Mars were able to be ensured. Fully autonomic relay communication in the UHF/X dual-band concept has been first introduced for efficient transmission of scientific exploration data. To cope with the complicated climate condition on the Mars, a safe energy scheme has been adopted, with breakthroughs in critical technologies such as peak power tracking, manufacturing of solar cells matching Mars spectrum, power balance under the sandy and dust weather conditions on Mars. A new heat control concept has been envisioned, representing breakthroughs in Nano aerogel insulation and solar energy collection/storage/utilization on Mars. Then, the challenges in heat preservation on Mars with limited thermal control power have been addressed, with the outcomes of highly efficient roving exploration covering over 1000 meters within 100 days. The achievements in the Tianwen-1 probe are in a world-leading position in terms of orbiting Martian exploration, comprehensive capability for entry/descent/landing, and efficient Martian surface exploration.

According to the mission planning made by the Tianwen-1 spacecraft development team, Tianwen-1 probe has realized the first exploration into the southern part of Utopia Planitia on Mars, filling a gap in this area for the world. It also acquired first-hand multi-dimensional and multi-elemental data on Mars in terms of surface topography, material composition, magnetic field, and meteorology. In the future, the Tianwen-1 orbiter will conduct moderate-resolution remote sensing coverage over the entire Mars and high-resolution observation over critical areas. The Martian rover is expected to achieve long-term exploration of the mud volcanic landform and the coastlines of the Martian paleo-ocean on the southern part of the landing area with a significant number of signs for water/ice, sediments, and volcanic activities, which will offer high-quality scientific exploration outcomes that will provide valuable insights into Martian climatic revolution and water/ice distribution.