14 DAY TRIAL // It becomes more and more obvious that the former great leader of China until 1976, poet and calligrapher Mao Zedong, couldn't have been more wrong when he stated that his country couldn't even put a potato into space. While his statement was partially true, since China has yet to carry the respective vegetable during its space missions, this may be eventually accomplished, given that the number of these missions is growing steadily. The latest plans involve sending a probe to Mars with the help of the other major ex-communist power of the Asian continent, Russia.
According to the Beijing News publication's quoting a researcher involved in the design of the Chinese probe, this is supposed to be carried aboard a Russian rocket, along with a Russian-built satellite. The "Yinghuo 1 [probe would] carry two cameras to take photos of Mars and Phobos (Mars 1)," explained the deputy design chief of the mission, Chen Changya, as quoted by the magazine and reported by Reuters.
The devices will travel together for almost a year, until they separate after having entered the Martian orbit. Yinghuo 1 will then take pictures from its orbit above the planet's surface for another year, although the technicians still have to figure out how the solar-powered craft will deal with the problem of maintaining its functionality during seven "long shadow periods". These periods will occur when the light from the Sun is obstructed by the planet which will place itself between the star and the probe.
The seven events will cause the temperature levels to drop to as low as -200 °Celsius, exposing the probe to a darkness that would last for about 8.8 hours. Switching off in order to preserve its energy may cause Yinghuo 1 to actually "freeze to death," without being capable of coming back to life. If the experts pull this off, the mission will consolidate China's position as an emerging power in the accelerated space race.