China on Mars: First pictures from the Zhurong rover
- Published
On Sunday, Beijing time, the Zhurong rover touched down on the red planet. China is only the second country, after America, to successfully land their rover on the surface of Mars and operate it. This photo shows the front view from the rover of the landscape of Utopia Planitia - a large plan on the planet's surface.
This photo of the rear view from the rover shows the solar panels that help power it and communication antenna. After landing successfully the rover spread out the solar arrays to give power to the robot, released the antenna so they can speak with controllers back in China and they let down the ramp so Zhurong can roll down and begin its missions.
Zhurong looks similar to Nasa's Spirit and Opportunity vehicles from the 2000s. It weighs 240kg and has a tall mast that has cameras to take pictures and to also help with navigation. The rover will investigate the local rocks, the general nature of the environment and use a radar to look for sub-surface water-ice.
This model shows how Zhurong will roll down from its landing platform ready to explore Utopia Planitia. Utopia Planitia is a colossal basin, more than 3,000km wide, which was formed by an impact early in Mars' history. There is some evidence that it may have held an ocean a long time ago.
China and America are the only countries to successfully land rovers on Mars and operate them for a significant period of time. Earlier this year Nasa's Perseverance explored the red planet and send back pictures from Mars. It even managed to fly a mini helicopter" Europe has failed twice at landing their robots, but they will try again next year.
The results were beamed back to Earth for space scientists to study and the public to enjoy, Here's a TV screen of a Chinese news programme showing the images taken of Mars by the robot.