China Mars exploration rover sends first message to Earth... US scientists also congratulate

3-Month Mars Exploration... First Data Transmission on the 28th

An artist's rendering of Tianwen-1 landing on Mars. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] The Chinese Mars probe "Tianwen" 1, which became the third spacecraft in the world to land on Mars, has sent its first message back to Earth through its exploration robot.

According to foreign media such as Huanqiu.com and China News Service on the 16th, the Chinese government reported that the exploration robot "Zhurong" sent a "WeChat" message announcing its arrival on Mars the previous evening.

Zhurong said, "Arrived on Mars! Hello, Earthlings," and added, "Today I arrived on the surface of Mars. At this moment, I have kept you waiting for a long time." It then described the process from descending from the atmospheric orbit around 1 a.m., entering the Mars entry orbit, to finally landing at the southern part of Mars' largest plain, the "Utopia Planitia," at 7:18 a.m. It also introduced that this Mars landing is the ninth worldwide and that it was a challenging mission to carefully select landing conditions such as flat terrain and weather. It emphasized that the landing site was once a sea on Mars and has high scientific value, making results beyond expectations possible.

Zhurong will investigate the environment near the landing site for the next 7 to 8 days and check its internal instruments before descending from the lander. China expects that as early as around the 22nd, Zhurong will leave the lander to explore the Martian surface and that the first data will be received around the 28th.

Equipped with radar, cameras, and exploration instruments, Zhurong weighs 240 kilograms (kg) and can travel 200 meters (m) per hour. It is scheduled to explore the soil, moisture, and geology of Mars for about three months.

Scientists worldwide, including those from the United States, also sent congratulatory messages on Zhurong's landing. Thomas Zurbuchen, Associate Administrator for Science Missions at NASA, tweeted, "Congratulations on the successful landing of China's first exploration robot Zhurong," adding, "I hope this mission will help deepen our understanding of Mars."

Dmitry Rogozin, head of Russia's space agency Roscosmos, also stated via Telegram, "We welcome the revival of planetary exploration in the solar system by a leading space power," calling the landing "a great success for fundamental space research programs."

Yasunori Matogawa, Emeritus Professor at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), also congratulated, saying, "China's space exploration technology has reached a very high level," and described it as "an extraordinary achievement beyond conventional wisdom."