China's space agency has once again proved its success with another picture of Mars' moons.
The CNBA, or China National Space Administration, has recently published a photo of one of Mars' moons from its Tianwen 1 Mars orbiter in celebration of the second anniversary of Tianwen's launch, per Space.com.
Tianwen 1, a name which is roughly translated as "questions to heaven" or "questioning the heavens," is China's first mission to Mars. It previously entered the Red Planet's orbit in February 2021 and has remained there since, per The Planetary Society.
πOn the day of the 2nd anniversary of Tianwen-1 launch, CNSA released a photo of Phobos, one of the Mars's moons, taken by #Tianwen1's high resolution camera. pic.twitter.com/CrXT8kajYt
— China 'N Asia Spaceflight ππ π°οΈ (@CNSpaceflight) July 23, 2022
Tianwen 1 Phobos Picture Details
CNBA's Tianwen 1 Mars orbiter recently took photos of Phobos, one of Mars' two moons using the same instrument utilized to photograph the landing area of China's Zhurong Mars rover.
During Tianwen 1's picture taking of Phobos, the spacecraft had to maneuver itself to the correct position and orientation to take Phobos' picture at the right time as they pass by each other.
Interestingly, China's state-run publication, China Daily, mentioned that Tianwen 1's operation team got the picture when the orbiter was "relatively close" to Phobos and captured clear images of mars' moon in its "full moon" state, per CNET.
The resulting image provides a 160 feet per pixel resolution, which is enough to make Phobos' linear grooves to be visible on the image with just the naked eye.
The spacecraft also managed to capture Phobos' Öpik Crater, which was named after Estonian astronomer and astrophysicist Ernst Öpik.
Tianwen 1 Details
Tianwen 1 is China's first mission to Mars. According to Deutsch Welle, the mission is China's attempt to observe the Red Planet from its orbit and the ground in one go through its Zhurong Mars rover, which Tianwen 1 carried from the Earth to Mars' orbit.
The CNBA utilized its Long March 5 series of heavy-lift rockets to bring the spacecraft out of Earth's atmosphere and into space, the same rocket series that had one of its rockets, the Long March 5B, rain debris back to Earth from space in early May 2021, per Reuters.
Aside from that, Tianwen 1 is carrying 13 "payloads," which consist of the mission's many instruments, such as a remote sensing camera and a ground penetrating radar.
The CNBA is aiming to get samples from the Red Planet through Zhurong and return them to Earth by the end of the 2020s, which is a top priority for the scientific community.
The mission will also give China the experience it needs to set the foundation for the sample return mission it is planning.
It would also allow CNBA experts to examine the atmosphere, landscape, geological and magnetic characteristics on Mars which may shed light on the origin and evolution of the Red Planet and the solar system, according to CGTN.
China's Zhurong Mars rover isn't alone in collecting samples to return to Earth. NASA's Perseverance Mars rover is also on the hunt for excellent samples to determine if the Red Planet was a host to life and liquid water.
