Thrilling 9 minutes

The thrilling 9-minute landing of the Zhurong spacecraft on Mars refers to the high-risk process of the probe entering the Martian atmosphere and landing. During these 9 minutes, the detector needs to complete multiple key steps such as aerodynamic deceleration, parachute descent, power deceleration, and hovering obstacle avoidance. Due to the thin atmosphere of Mars and the difficulty of landing, as well as the long time delay in communication between the probe and Earth, the entire process must be completed autonomously by the probe. Any mistake can lead to task failure, so these short minutes are full of uncertainty and risk. Zhurong Landing Record 1 Three months of orbiting Mars: Zhurong will orbit Mars for three months, carefully preparing for landing, which is a dual test of technology and patience. two Autonomous adventure: Upon entering the Martian atmosphere, the Zhurong spacecraft must autonomously respond to unknown challenges without real-time support from Earth commands. three 20000 kilometers to zero deceleration: From entering the atmosphere at high speed to a smooth landing, the Zhurong will take 7 minutes.

The unit is designed for unsupervised public use: controls are recessed or shielded, moving parts are enclosed, and the interface is operable by a child of about six with no instruction. Where a screen is used, the language can be switched without changing the hardware, and the content can be replaced on site.

So far, the success rate of human Mars exploration missions is only about 50%, with most of them failing during the landing phase on Mars. Tianwen-1 took about 9 minutes from entering the Martian atmosphere to successfully landing. The first "thrilling aspect" of "thrilling 9 minutes" comes from the distance. Due to the long distance between Earth and Mars, the communication time has reached about 18 minutes. We sent a command from the ground, and Tianwen-1 would only receive it in 18 minutes, while the entire landing process only took about 9 minutes. The other "thrilling aspect" of "thrilling 9 minutes" comes from the extremely complex and interlocking landing process, where any problem in any link could lead to landing failure. To land stably on the surface of Mars, the primary issue is to slow down the high-speed Tianwen-1 spacecraft. The entire deceleration process is mainly divided into three stages: aerodynamic deceleration, parachute deceleration, and power deceleration.