China’s Zhurong Rover Sends Back Its First Images of Mars

On Sunday , China became the 2d country to successfullyland a mission on Mars . The Zhurong wanderer , now comfortably sitting just above the cold knit of Utopia Planitia , has sent back its first epitome of the Martian landscape painting .

The mental image , apportion in a newreleasefrom the China National Space Administration , are important because they will fix what the rover will set out to canvas . Unlike NASA ’s Perseverance , which is the fifth rover the agency has deployed on the Red Planet and has a clearly draft mission to look for fossilized microbic living , Zhurong has a idle schedule .

One image is calamitous and white and was taken by the obstruction dodging photographic camera on the rover ’s front . A ramp from the lander has extend to the Martian aerofoil , and the rover ’s wheel are just seeable at the bottom of the frame . It is , in total , a very “ welcome to Mars ” trope . The second image is in color — the rocky red soil is a intimate plenty for us late — was taken by the navigation tv camera on the back of the scouter . The solar panels on Zhurong come along to have unfurled without a hitch . The investigation also sentvideofootage from China ’s artificial satellite , which shows the lander and rover ’s detachment from the satellite during landing .

One image shows the disembarkation ramp the rover will use to reach the Martian surface from the lander.

One image shows the disembarkation ramp the rover will use to reach the Martian surface from the lander.Image:CNSA

In a assertion on Wednesday , NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said : “ felicitation to the China National Space Administration on receiving the first images from the Zhurong Mars rover ! As the external scientific community of robotlike explorers on Mars develop , the United States and the domain look forward to the discoveries Zhurong will make to win humanity ’s knowledge of the Red Planet . I look forward to next international discovery , which will help inform and develop the capabilities needed to shoot down human boots on Mars . ”

The Chinese bird of passage is over 1,000 mile from NASA ’s Perseverance , and give the highly localize nature of rover missions , they wo n’t ever meet . While Perseverance will scour a dry - up river delta in Jezero Crater , Zhurong ’s surround in Utopia Planitia is mostly plain . There are a couple feature there of particular interestingness to researcher . Some of those include gumption dune - comparable structures , evidence of Martian frosts , and a cone-shaped characteristic seen in planet images from Mars satellite , which could be an ancient lava or mud vent , Naturereported . If a clay vent , it could help excuse why so much methane is in the Martian ambience .

Zhurong ’s mission is correct to course for just over 90 days , so there ’s a mickle to pack into that time . With the Perseverance and Curiosity rover and the InSight lander also work on Mars , we can look forth to a wealth of news from the Red Planet in the do months .

Zhurong’s solar panels have unfolded, as the second image from the rover reveals.