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Yinghuo-1
EntityQ177852· pop 30· linked from 463 articles

Yinghuo-1 () was a Chinese Mars-exploration space probe, intended to be the first Chinese planetary space probe and the first Chinese spacecraft to orbit Mars. It was launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, on 8 November 2011, along with the Russian Fobos-Grunt sample return spacecraft, which was intended to visit Mars's moon Phobos. The 115-kg (250-lb) Yinghuo-1 probe was intended by the CNSA to orbit Mars for about two years, studying the planet's surface, atmosphere, ionosphere and magnetic field. Shortly after launch, Fobos-Grunt was expected to perform two burns to depart Earth orb

Key facts

Spaceflight.name
Yinghuo-1
Spaceflight.image
File:Model of Phobos-Grunt spacecraft 2011 P1110983.jpg
Spaceflight.image_caption
Yinghuo-1 marked label 3
Spaceflight.mission_type
Mars orbiter
Spaceflight.operator
CNSA
Spaceflight.mission_duration
1 year in Mars orbit (planned)Never departed Earth orbit
Spaceflight.dimensions
750mm x 750mm x 650mm (stowed)
Spaceflight.power
90 W, solar array
Spaceflight.launch_date
 UTC
Spaceflight.launch_rocket
Zenit-2M
Spaceflight.launch_site
Baikonur 45/1
Spaceflight.deployment_from
Fobos-Grunt (planned)
Spaceflight.orbit_reference
Areocentric (planned)Geocentric (achieved)
Spaceflight.orbit_regime
Low Earth (achieved)
Spaceflight.orbit_periapsis
(planned)
Spaceflight.orbit_apoapsis
(planned)
Spaceflight.orbit_inclination
5 degrees (planned)
Spaceflight.orbit_period
3 days (planned)

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Mass
115
Image
Model of Phobos-Grunt spacecraft 2011 P1110983.jpg
Height
600
Width
750
Length
750
Significant event
atmospheric entry
Show 7 more facts
UTC date of spacecraft launch
2011-11-08
space launch vehicle
Zenit-2M
nominal power output
90
native label
萤火一号
orbital inclination
5
time of object orbit decay
2012-01-15
Sources (3)

via Wikidata · CC0

~5 min read

Encyclopedic overview

12 sections
Contents
  • Name
  • Background
  • Instruments and objectives
  • Mission profile
  • Launch processing
  • Launch and orbital burn failure
  • Destructive re-entry
  • Specifications
  • See also
  • References
  • Further reading
  • External links

Yinghuo-1 () was a Chinese Mars-exploration space probe, intended to be the first Chinese planetary space probe and the first Chinese spacecraft to orbit Mars. It was launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, on 8 November 2011, along with the Russian Fobos-Grunt sample return spacecraft, which was intended to visit Mars's moon Phobos. The 115-kg (250-lb) Yinghuo-1 probe was intended by the CNSA to orbit Mars for about two years, studying the planet's surface, atmosphere, ionosphere and magnetic field. Shortly after launch, Fobos-Grunt was expected to perform two burns to depart Earth orbit bound for Mars. However, these burns did not take place, leaving both probes stranded in orbit. On 17 November 2011, CNSA reported that Yinghuo-1 had been declared lost. After a period of orbital decay, Yinghuo-1 and Fobos-Grunt underwent destructive re-entry on 15 January 2012, finally disintegrating over the Pacific Ocean.

As a result, CNSA subsequently moved to embark on an independent Mars exploration program, which culminated in the Tianwen-1 orbiter-lander-rover mission that successfully landed the Zhurong rover on Mars on 22 May, 2021.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Yinghuo-1” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.