A Chinese probe documents historic moments of the mysterious comet 3I/ATLAS approaching the Red Planet

This comet is the third confirmed object from outside the solar system, after the mysterious “Oumuamua” that was observed in 2017, and the comet “Borisov” that was discovered in 2019. The passage of 3I/ATLAS received great attention from international space agencies, as they rushed to direct all available spacecraft – including those on the surface of Mars – to observe and study it.

China joined this international scientific effort when… The China National Space Administration (CNSA) revealed the success of the “Tianwen-1” mission in photographing the comet during the period from October 1 to 4.. The probe used its High Resolution Camera (HiRIC), which is very similar to the HiRISE camera aboard NASA’s orbiter, albeit with a slightly lower resolution.

The scientific team faced major technical challenges in the monitoring process, as it was forced to shift the probe from its primary mission of photographing the bright surface of Mars from a low orbit, to tracking a faint comet moving at a tremendous speed of up to 58 kilometers per second, about 29 million kilometers away, and its diameter does not exceed only 5.6 kilometers.

“We were able to receive the data captured by the high-resolution camera, process it and display it via a ground-based application system,” China National Space Administration officials said in a statement on November 5. “The images clearly show the comet’s distinctive features, including the nucleus and the surrounding coma with a diameter of several thousand kilometers.”

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This mission was not just a scientific addition, but rather represented an important technical test of the capabilities of the Chinese probe. The administration confirmed that the comet imaging project represents an important extension of the “Tianwen-1” mission, and contributed to testing the technical capabilities of future missions, especially the upcoming “Tianwen-2” mission, which was launched last May on its way to collect samples from a near-Earth asteroid.

It is noteworthy that “Tianwen-1” represents the first Chinese planetary exploration mission, as it was launched in July 2020 and reached Mars orbit in February 2021. The mission enjoyed remarkable success with the “Chorong” rover successfully landing on the surface of Mars in May 2021, and worked for a full Earth year in the “Utopia Planitia” region.

Source: Space