Posted on 12/14/2021 6:08:37 AM PST by BenLurkin
The Zhurong rover was designed only to communicate with its companion orbiter, Tianwen 1; however, the rover has long outlived its planned mission and the orbiter is no longer able to do as much data relaying. So China and Europe decided to try an experiment: Send data from Zhurong to Mars Express to Earth. That's challenging, since the robots' communications equipment doesn't match. Zhurong can transmit at a frequency Mars Express can detect, but not vice versa, so Zhurong sends data without hearing back from the orbiter.
On Nov. 20, Mars Express passed 2,500 miles (4,000 kilometers) above Zhurong's location in Utopia Planitia, received a batch of data, then transmitted the data across 230 million miles (370 million km) of space to European Space Operations Center ground stations, which then forwarded the data to the Beijing Aerospace Flight Control Center.
Normally a rover and orbiter will exchange short messages to establish two-communications and transmit data. But, according to ESA, Mars Express transmits its "hello" signal using communication frequencies that are different from those the Chinese Zhurong Mars rover receives, making two-way communication impossible. However, Zhurong can transmit signals using a frequency that Mars Express can receive, so ESA carried out a first test of a one-way communication technique: communication "in the blind," where the sender can't be sure if their signal is being received.
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
Their Yutu-2 rover on the Moon spotted something that looks like a small Hut and is moving towards it 80 meters ,LOL
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