Researchers Shed Light On Smart Tech That Made Chinese Flag The First On Mars

• The lightweight polymer allows the flag to "fly with the wind" on the Red Planet and can be used in interplanetary travel and space engineering.
• The patented materials could push China ahead in the space race, as the competition relies on NASA's heavier and more expensive components.

Chinese researchers are sharing for the first time details about the technology that made China the first country to plant a national flag on Mars, prompting former US President Donald Trump to swallow his words.

The United States planted its flag on the moon more than 50 years ago and plans to do so again on the red planet. "The United States of America will be the first country to plant our beautiful American flag on Mars," Trump said in 2019.

But on May 15, 2021, after a journey of nearly 500 million kilometers (300 million miles) that lasted 300 days, the Tianwen spacecraft raised the Chinese flag on Mars, the first national flag to be placed on the planet. The red flag with five yellow stars, made of a smart cloth-like material, gently flutters in the Martian wind.

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In a research paper published Monday in the journal Advances in Mechanics, Chinese researchers detailed the new material, which will be used for interplanetary travel, asteroid exploration and other space infrastructure projects.

Robotic devices that can hold and open flags typically require several mechanical components. These metal parts are heavy and can significantly increase mission costs and risks.

Only low-cost, lightweight and reliable technology can fly the "five-star red flag with the Martian wind," the researchers said.

The Chinese flag kit weighs less than 200 grams (7 ounces), and there are no separate motors or gears. The engine's main components are made of a smart polymer that changes shape when heated.

The device sports a rounded flag with a pair of buckles made of a rubber-like material. When heated, the ribbon "fingers" straighten and release the flag, allowing the fabric to fall under gravity and unfold naturally.

According to NASA, placing the American flag at the space agency is "a symbolic gesture of national pride in achievement."

An image of the American flag printed on the surface of the Japanese Hayabusa rover first reached the surface of Mars in 2008. The stars and stripes pattern reappeared on the Curiosity mission in 2012, when it appeared on one of Mars' four mobile arms. On Rover 2020, the American flag will be printed on the bottom of the remote sensing mast and will continue to follow the rover all the way to Mars.

But these printed images do not meet the definition of flags, which are usually made of cloth or similar materials.

Chinese spacecraft shows Martian dust storm on the Red Planet

"The launch of the scientific instrument on the lander makes China the first country in the world to implement intelligent structures based on shape memory composite polymers for space exploration," said project leader Ling Jinsong and colleagues at the Center for Composite Materials. and the structures of the Harbin Institute of Technology.

"China is leading the application of smart materials in space."

Polymers can change shape freely, but return to "shape memory" under the influence of heat, electric charge, magnetic force or chemical solutions.

This is the technology that NASA currently lacks, according to Chinese researchers.

In the 1960s, private companies proposed polymers to NASA as a cheaper alternative to mechanical components in space projects. Over the next decade, the space agency funded research that produced several polymer prototypes.

But these projects were not successful. Polymers are too soft for most applications. Its physical strength can vary greatly depending on temperature, and it reacts quickly to cosmic ray radiation.

© South China Morning Post The device consists of a flag wrapped around a polymer clip that releases the flag when heated, allowing the fabric to expand by gravity. Photo: Harbin Institute of Technology

NASA continues to develop mechanical components from alloys, which are very heavy and expensive to manufacture.

The James Webb telescope, for example, took more than 24 years to build at a budget of $10 trillion. The complex processes of storing and removing mirrors largely lead to delays and costs.

Chinese researchers say China cannot afford such an approach.

With continued funding from the central government, Leng's team spent more than two decades improving the performance of smart polymers. Carbon fiber has been added to increase the strength of the material. They created new theories to predict their behavior, tested candidate materials in some of the most challenging environments, and worked with factories to reduce the cost of mass production.

In 2016, China conducted an unprecedented experiment in space in which a spaghetti-like structure of smart polymers was formed on a plate, according to Leng's team.

In 2020, a large Chinese satellite in geostationary orbit deployed the world's first solar panels built without physical contact. The soft film stretches in less than a minute with a support frame made of smart materials. Unlike traditional solar panels, the installation process does not cause any harmful vibrations or shocks.

Chinese explorers recently discovered that there is more water on Mars than previously thought

Ling's team said the patented materials could turn the tide of the space race and put China in the lead.

"This technology is expected to be used in China's space station, lunar exploration project, manned space flight, Mars exploration, Jupiter exploration, asteroid exploration, ice giant exploration and major space engineering projects," they said.

China has plans for major space infrastructure projects, including solar power plants designed to beam high-energy beams back to Earth. These infrastructure projects were previously too large, expensive and complex to use current technology, but smart materials can significantly reduce the budget and risk of these projects.

The same material has also been used in the development of new solid-fuel rocket engines to increase the range of hypersonic missiles, according to new research.

Chinese researchers are using similar materials to create shape-shifting aircraft for greater efficiency during different phases of flight.

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This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (www.scmp.com), a leading newspaper reporting on China and Asia.

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