Beijing: China’s Tianwen-1 mission, which arrived in Mars’ orbit in July 2020, has produced the highest-resolution global color map of Mars to date. This groundbreaking achievement was made possible by a team of researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), who combined thousands of remote-sensing images captured by the Tianwen-1 orbiter over nearly 1,298 days.
The Tianwen-1 mission, a milestone in China’s interplanetary exploration, consists of six robotic elements: an orbiter, a lander, two deployable cameras, a remote camera, and the Zhurong rover. Its primary objectives are to investigate Mars’ geology, internal structure, atmosphere, and search for signs of water and possible evidence of life on the Red Planet.
The newly released map, detailed in the journal Science Bulletin, was created under the leadership of Professor Li Chunlai from the National Astronomical Observatories of China and Professor Zhang Rongqiao from the Lunar Exploration and Space Engineering Center. The map features a spatial resolution of 76 meters (83 yards) per pixel, making it the highest-resolution true-color global map of Mars ever created.
Previous Mars maps, such as those produced by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) and Mars Odyssey missions, offered resolutions of around 100 to 232 meters per pixel. In contrast, the Tianwen-1 orbiter’s Mars Color Imager (MoRIC) captured 14,757 images during 284 orbits, with resolutions ranging from 57 to 197 meters (62 to 215 yards). This data allowed the CAS team to create a seamless mosaic with horizontal accuracy down to 68 meters (74 yards).
The researchers also employed advanced color correction techniques to ensure global color uniformity, resulting in the release of the “Tianwen-1 Mars Global Color Orthomosaic 76 m v1” map. This map is not only a significant improvement in resolution and color accuracy over previous Mars maps but also a valuable resource for future space exploration.
The high-resolution map is expected to serve as a critical geographic reference for space agencies worldwide, aiding in the selection of landing sites for future robotic explorers. It will also play a vital role in planning for upcoming crewed missions to Mars by NASA, the China National Space Administration (CNSA), and other space-faring nations, which are anticipated to begin in the 2030s or 2040s.
This achievement underscores China’s growing capabilities in space exploration and its commitment to advancing our understanding of Mars.
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