China’s Mars Tianwen-1 probe and the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Mars Express spacecraft successfully conducted an in-orbit transmission communication test, the China National Space Administration (ANECh) announced on Wednesday, reported the Xinhua agency.
China’s Mars Zhurong rover sent test data to Mars Express at a distance of approximately 4,000 kilometers . The communication lasted 10 minutes. Mars Express received the data and forwarded it to ESA’s deep space tracking station. After receiving the data, the station sent it to the European Space Operations Center (COEE) and the latter forwarded the data to the Beijing Aerospace Control Center.
The results of the data analysis show that the interconnections of the Zhurong and Mars Express transmission communication equipment matched and conformed to international standards and the contents of the transmitted data were complete and correct.
The Tianwen-1 team and the Mars Express team will undertake more cooperation in science data transmission communication, ANECh said.