Does the Tianwen-1 lander/rover mission have a skycrane and parachute camera like Mars 2020?
In wikipedia, I didn't find any reference to a skycrane.
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$\begingroup$ related: What is the purpose and necessity of this giant structure being used in tests of China's Mars lander? and How did Chang'e-4 hover, rotate, and then descend so gracefully? (Video) $\endgroup$– uhohCommented Mar 12, 2021 at 5:22
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2 Answers
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Does Tianwen-1 mission have a skycrane and parachute camera like Mars 2020?
No.
My reference is this video: 3D animation: how will Tianwen-1 carry out China's first Mars exploration mission? from a Chinese news outlet.
To me, it looks like it will use a similar approach compared to InSight/Phoenix/Viking with the rover mounted on the top. It will then deploy a ramp for the rover to roll down.
Discussion of tests in 2019 can be found in What is the purpose and necessity of this giant structure being used in tests of China's Mars lander?
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2$\begingroup$ Links break and rot, so an answer must be more than "the answer is in this link/video/paper/article. Those are called link-only answers because when the link breaks or rots or moves the answer becomes no answer at all. Since the video is narrated in Chinese and there is no closed-captions in English, we have to take the images for granted, and those who are visually impaired will have to take your word for it. $\endgroup$– uhohCommented Mar 12, 2021 at 12:38
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$\begingroup$ Curiosity and Perseverance only needed the skycrane because they are so heavy, 900 kg and 1000 kg respectively. Space programs would much prefer simpler parachutes. Tianwen-1's rover is about 250 kg; larger than Spirit and Opportunity, but much smaller than Curiosity and Perseverance. $\endgroup$– SchwernCommented Mar 12, 2021 at 21:10
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$\begingroup$ @Schwern Tiwanwen-1 is a lander with a rover on top (like their lunar Chang'e lander/rover combos). What's the total mass of the whole thing? $\endgroup$– uhohCommented Mar 13, 2021 at 0:25
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1$\begingroup$ @uhoh I'm having trouble finding info, but if it's like Chang'e 4 the lander's mass is about 1000 kg. $\endgroup$– SchwernCommented Mar 13, 2021 at 0:45
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1$\begingroup$ thanks for the edit, still learning to use this site :) $\endgroup$– RAD6000Commented Mar 13, 2021 at 9:39
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The Wikipedia article on the Tianwen-1 mission describes the landing sequence quite well:
It is projected to make an atmospheric entry followed by a descent phase under parachute, after which the lander will use its propulsion to land smoothly on Mars. If all goes according to plan, the lander will then deploy the rover designed to explore the surface for 90 sols.
So, at least according to Wikipedia, there is a lander, which will land propulsively on Mars and then deploy the rover. No skycrane.
This sounds like it is a simple standard landing maneuver like everybody has been doing for rovers since the beginning of spaceflight.
The airbag landing system for Sojourner, Spirit, and Opportunity, and the skycrane system for Curiosity and Perseverance are really the odd man out here. Typically, rovers are landed with a lander that lands propulsively, then they drive off the lander platform using some sort of ramp.
Even Sojourner, Spirit, and Opportunity had a lander with a platform that they drove off of, but those landers didn't land propulsively, they were dropped from about 10m, protected by airbags.
answered Mar 12, 2021 at 11:47
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$\begingroup$ > Typically, rovers are landed with a lander that lands propulsively, then they drive off the lander platform using some sort of ramp. Not sure if this is really that typical, if we are talking about robotic rovers 7 rovers have used or will use propulsive landing of a lander on the Moon or Mars while the 5 NASA Mars rovers did not. And if we restrict to rovers that actually landed successfully there are only 4 rovers that used propulsive landing of a lander (5 if you count Mars 3 which had a communication failure with the lander after landing.) $\endgroup$– BookOwlCommented Mar 12, 2021 at 18:48
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$\begingroup$ Source for my comment en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_rovers_on_extraterrestrial_bodies $\endgroup$– BookOwlCommented Mar 12, 2021 at 18:49
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$\begingroup$ You didn't mention about camera at all. $\endgroup$ Commented Mar 13, 2021 at 2:51
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$\begingroup$ @AlanMarks: Since there is no skycrane, the question whether or not the skycrane has a camera is non-sensical. If I say "Yes, there is a skycrane camera", you will be unable to prove me wrong, because you cannot point at the skycrane and say "You are wrong, there is no camera." If I say "No, there is no skycrane camera", you will be unable to prove me wrong, because you cannot point at the skycrane and say "You are wrong, there is a camera." So, both "Yes" and "No" are correct answers to the question. $\endgroup$ Commented Mar 13, 2021 at 7:47