Mars Express relays data from Zhurong

Landers and rovers on Mars gather data that help scientists answer fundamental questions about the geology, atmosphere, surface environment, history of water and potential for life on the Red Planet.

To get their data to Earth, they first transmit signals containing the data up to spacecraft in orbit around Mars. These spacecraft then use their much larger, more powerful transmitters to ‘relay’ the data across space to Earth.

This November, ESA’s Mars Express team conducted a series of experimental data relay tests with the Chinese Zhurong Mars rover.

When Mars Express flew over Zhurong’s landing site in Utopia Planitia, it switched on its radio and listened. If it detected Zhurong's signal sent up "in the blind", its radio locked on to it and began recording any data. At the end of the communication window, the spacecraft turned to face Earth and relayed these data across space the same way it does for other scientific Mars missions.

Any data that arrived at ESOC were forwarded on to the Zhurong team for processing and analysis who confirmed the culmination of the experiment in a successful test on 20 November.