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Holly Chik

China released its first high-resolution image of the landing areas of its Mars rover on Monday.
The picture released by the China National Space Administration was taken last Wednesday by a camera installed on the Tianwen 1 orbiter.
The rover Zhu Rong appears as a smaller bright spot in the upper right corner of the image near a bigger spot, which is the lander.
As of Sunday, the rover had worked 23 Martian days on the surface of the red planet. A Martian day is about 40 minutes longer than a day on Earth.
The administration said the rover had started exploring the planet’s surface and collecting data.

It said a dark area around the landing platform might have been caused by an engine plume during landing.
Bright spots below the lander show part of the entry capsule’s cover and the parachute, which were jettisoned during the landing process. The entry capsule’s heat shield can be seen as a bright spot in the lower left of the image.
China released the first pictures taken by the rover on May 17, four days after it touched down on the planet, dismissing suggestions that it had been damaged during landing.
The rover was named after the earliest god of fire in traditional Chinese culture, symbolising the use of fire to illuminate the Earth and bring light.


China is the second country after the United States to land and operate a rover on Mars. Nasa’s rovers Curiosity and Perseverance are also on the red planet.
In a first, Perseverance succeeded in extracting oxygen from the planet’s carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere on April 20.
China is racing to catch up with the United States in space technology. It has started building its own space station and plans to fly its first three astronauts this month to the Tianhe core module for a three-month mission.


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China's space programme

China’s Mars eye in the sky snaps Zhu Rong rover landing site

The high-resolution image shows the lander and rover in the top left. Photo: CCTV

An image taken on Mars by Chinese rover Zhurong of China's Tianwen-1 mission is seen in this handout image released by the China National Space Administration (CNSA), May 19, 2021. CNSA/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES.

What is China’s Tianwen-1 Mars mission?

The Tianwen-1 Mars probe lifts off from the Wenchang Space Launch Centre in Hainan province on July 23 last year. Photo: Xinhua

China’s space programme: how Beijing is banking on youth to drive its celestial ambitions

Zhou Chengyu, 24, is China’s youngest and first woman space commander. Photo: Twitter

China space programme: Tianwen-1 enters Mars’ parking orbit ahead of touchdown in May

China’s Tianwen-1 probe, seen en route to Mars, is set to touchdown on the red planet in May. Photo: AP

In this July 23, 2020, file photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, spectators watch as a Long March-5 rocket carrying the Tianwen-1 Mars probe lifts off from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in southern China's Hainan Province. China is falling in love with space, inspired by the ruling Communist Party's increasingly ambitious missions over the past two decades to fire humans into orbit and explore the moon and Mars. (Yang Guanyu/Xinhua via AP, File)

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China

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Chinese space agency releases new high-resolution image of Martian surface
Bright spots show covers and parachute discarded during touch down



Chinese space agency releases new high-resolution image of Martian surface.


Space

China technology

China’s Mars eye in the sky snaps Zhu Rong rover landing site

Chinese space agency releases new high-resolution image of Martian surface Bright spots show covers and parachute discarded during touch down

Chinese space agency releases new high-resolution image of Martian surface

Bright spots show covers and parachute discarded during touch down