HIT News (the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Text/Photo) - On October 1, as the whole country celebrated the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival, China National Space Administration released flight images of “Tianwen 1” rover, China's first Mars exploration mission, on which the five-starred red flag was glorious, showing a bright China red. In this way, “Tianwen 1” reported peace to the motherland and expressed birthday wishes.

Professor Wu Xiaohong's Team from the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering of HIT undertook the task of developing the five-starred red flag on the “Tianwen 1” orbiter, as an important part of the Mars orbiter engineering measurement subsystem. The flag measures approximately 39 cm x 26 cm, slightly smaller than a sheet of A3 paper, and weighs only 144 grams. In order to minimize weight, keep smooth and remain bright and intact in space, the team went through a series of scientific studies, developing a special functional material for national flag, which combines irradiation resistance, low volatility and high-low temperature alternation resistance, etc. This material was overprinted on aluminum sheet by a special process to avoid problems such as color degradation and coating peeling off under the extreme environment of deep space.

The First Selfie of “Tianwen 1” Rover in Deep Space