The first Chinese rover "Zhuzhong" sent images from the surface of Mars. The photos confirmed that the rover's solar panels and antenna opened successfully, and will help experts build a plan for the rover's movements, [...] CNSA reports.
Zhuzhong landed in the south of the Utopia Plain in the northern hemisphere of Mars on May 15, 2021, as part of the first Chinese Mars mission, Tianwen-1. The weight of the six-wheeled planetoid is 240 kilograms, the payload includes cameras, a ground-penetrating radar, a magnetometer, a weather station and a soil analyzer. It is expected that the rover will not only demonstrate its viability for 90 Martian days (with the possibility of extending the work), but also conduct studies of the surface and subsurface layers of the ground.
On May 17, the orbiting probe moved to a new near-Martian eight-hour orbit, where it will work as a relay, maintaining communication between the rover and Earth. After that, Zhuzhong began transmitting telemetry, and on May 19, the first images taken by the rover came to Earth. They show elements of the rover standing on the landing platform, as well as the surrounding area, covered with sand and small stones.
The moment of separation of the capsule with the rover from the orbiting probe.
Image Source: CNSA / PEC
The images confirmed that the rover's solar panels and antenna had opened successfully. In addition, the Chinese experts showed an animation from the images obtained by the orbiting probe, showing the separation of the capsule with the rover. The date of the rover's departure from the landing platform has not yet been determined, and experts are currently studying the images.
A black-and-white image of Mars taken by the rover's front camera.
Image Source: CNSA / PEC
How China intends to explore Mars can be found in our material "Questions to the sky" .
Alexander Voityuk
