China’s Mars 2020 probe is undergoing testing for atmospheric entry, descent and landing on the red planet, a researcher involved in the mission has stated.

Zhou Weijiang, a researcher with the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) and participant in the country’s ongoing annual parliamentary sessions, told Science and Technology Daily over the weekend that the aerodynamic design of the lander had been completed and tests are underway.

“The aerodynamic design is very important as it will protect the probe during its landing phase,” Zhou said.

Zhou said that the design faced many constraints, including mass. “If we apply too little heat-resisting material, the probe will burn or if too much it will surpass the weight standard.”

The landing tests are being carried out by the Beijing Institute of Space Mechanics and Electricity (BISME), which include simulating the gravitational field of the Red Planet, as well as mimicking the attitude and speed of the lander as it goes through stages of entry, descent and landing (EDL) on Mars.

A breakthrough in the propulsion subsystem for the Mars lander was made in January, while in 2016 an experimental supersonic, low density parachute, was tested in the upper layers of Earth’s atmosphere to substitute for Martian conditions.

Orbiter, lander, rover

The project, consisting of an orbiter, lander and rover, is China’s first independent interplanetary mission and will be launched by a Long March 5 rocket from the coastal Wenchang Satellite Launch Centre on the southern island province of Hainan.

Launch will occur around August 2020, during the once-every-26-months minimum-energy launch windows to Mars, with the probe expected to then reach Mars in February 2021.

NASA’s Insight lander mission will take advantage of the next such window, launching in May this year.

China’s 2020 probe will be joined by NASA’s 2020 rover mission, the second European Space Agency and Russia ExoMars astrobiology mission, and the Emirates Mars Mission.

China’s mission is particularly ambitious in that China will be combining an orbiter with a lander and rover for its first attempt at a Mars mission. The success rate internationally for attempting either is just over 50 percent, with only NASA succeeding with a landing.

China is utilising some of the experience and technology from the 2013 Chang’e-3 lunar landing mission for the much more challenging Martian landing.

Ye Peijian, a senior Chinese space programme official, states that the greater velocity, the thin but hazardous Martian atmosphere, and the remoteness of the planet pose additional hurdles to lunar missions.

The landing segment will make use of gasbag, parachute and reverse thrust engines to set it down safely. Factors such as the long-distance data transmission delay mean that the rover will have a high autonomy.