Chinese Mars rover beams back again first photos
20 May, 2021
Solar panels against an alien landscape, ramps and rods pointing at the Martian horizon - China's first probe in the Red World has beamed returning its first "selfies" after its history-making landing last week.
The Zhurong rover was carried into the Martian atmosphere in a lander on Saturday, in the first ever successful probe landing by any country on its first Mars objective.
Zhurong, named following a mythical Chinese fire god, arrived a couple of months behind the United States' hottest probe to Mars - Perseverance - and offers been celebrated on China as a milestone in its ascent to space superpower position.
The China National Space Administration on Wednesday published the images taken by cameras attached to the rover, which demonstrated the obstacle-avoidance equipment and solar power panels on the vehicle, as well as the texture of the Martian floor.
Zhurong, named after a mythical Chinese fire god, has been celebrated on China as a milestone on its ascent to space superpower position (Photo: AFP/-)
"People of the internet, the Mars images you've been longing for are here," the area agency said in a cultural media post containing the images.
The rover's landing was a nail-biter for Chinese space engineers, with state media describing the procedure of using a parachute to slow descent and buffer legs as "the most challenging area of the mission".
It is likely to spend around 90 days there taking photographs and harvesting geographical data.
China has come a long way in its competition to catch up with america and Russia, whose astronauts and cosmonauts have years of experience found in space exploration.
It successfully launched the first module of its different space station previous month with hopes of experiencing it crewed by 2022 and finally sending humans to the Moon.
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