China's New Global Map of Mars | Tianwen-1 Mars Mission

China's New Global Map of Mars | Tianwen-1 Mars Mission

China released its first color-coded global map of Mars on April 24, 2024, to coincide with Space Day 2023 in China. It will be made available online for viewing by the general public and internationally on May 1st. Its 76-meter spatial resolution provides better quality for conducting future Mars exploration projects and scientific research. The colored images, along with scientific data obtained by the Tianwen-1 Mars mission, will improve our understanding of the Red Planet. Tianwen-1 (天问一号) is China’s first Mars exploration mission with an orbiter, a lander and a rover named Zhurong (祝融). China is the second country after the United States to make a successful soft landing and to establish communication from the Martian surface. It is the first in a series of planned missions undertaken by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) as part of its Planetary Exploration of China program.

The colored map images were jointly released by the CNSA and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) at a launch ceremony held in the city of Hefei, located in east China's Anhui Province. 

The medium-resolution camera aboard the orbiter of the Tianwen-1 mission carried out 284 orbital remote sensing imaging tasks between November 2021 and July 2022, providing coverage of the entire Martian surface. The ground application system processed 14,757 images to obtain the colored map images of the planet.

Through these high-resolution images of Mars, researchers have identified a large number of geographic entities, 22 of which were named after historical and cultural villages and towns in China with a population of less than 100,000 by the International Astronomical Union based on relevant rules.

About China's first Mars mission, Tianwen-1

China's Tianwen-1 Mars probe was launched back in July 2020 and entered Mars orbit in February 2021. The rover landed and started operations in May 2021. After it completed 90 Martian days of assigned scientific exploration tasks, the rover continued its exploration of the Red Planet. The rover, which has traveled 1,921 meters in 358 Martian days, is now in sleep mode.

As of June 29, 2022, the orbiter of the Tianwen-1 mission had completed its primary global remote sensing exploration objectives. It has been in operation for over 1,000 days. It remains in good condition and will continue to conduct scientific exploration and accumulate data from orbit, according to CNSA.

"This process has placed high demands for the orbital control," Zhang Rongqiao, chief designer for China's Mars Exploration Program, told CGTN in an interview on the sidelines of China's Space Day 2023 events. He is confident that the colors presented in the map are precise and true to the Red Planet.

"This full-color image of Mars not only provides a better quality base map for our country's follow-up Mars exploration projects and scientific research, but also for our international colleagues' Mars exploration projects and scientific research," Zhang said.

"I believe this is an important contribution Tianwen-1 made for deep space exploration, for all humankind," he added.

Credit: China National Space Administration (CNSA)/Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)/China Central Television (CCTV)/China Global Television Network (CGTN)

Acknowledgement: SciNews

Duration: 5 minutes

Release Date: April 24, 2023

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