The China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced that the new images show the various operating conditions of the rover’s orbital explorer and rover, as well as the topography of the Martian surface obtained by them.
The images include a photo of the orbiter and Mars together, the orbiter’s close-up, the ice sheet of the Martian north pole region, and views from the Martian surface taken by the Zhurong rover.
IT HAS A LIFE OF THREE MONTHS
China’s Tianwen-1 mission, consisting of an orbital explorer, a lander and a rover, was launched on July 23, 2020.
The lander carrying the rover, which has a lifespan of at least 90 Martian days, or about three months, by Earth days, landed on May 15 in the southern part of the Utopia Planitia region, a large plain in Mars’ northern hemisphere.
Zhurong landed on the Martian surface from its landing platform on May 22 and began its explorations on the Red Planet.
HE DID 1400 METERS
As of December 31, 2021, the Tianwen-1 orbital explorer has been operating for 526 days in orbit at a distance of approximately 350 million kilometers from Earth. According to the CNSA, Zhurong has been working on the surface of the Red Planet for 225 Martian days and has traveled 1400 meters.
The Tianwen-1 mission is carrying out its planned reconnaissance and testing missions and has obtained approximately 560 gigabytes (GB) of data from them. The CNSA announced that both the orbital explorer and rover are in good condition and operating normally.
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