Beijing, 1 Jan (China News Service) -- On 1 January, the China National Space Administration released a set of exquisite images from distant Mars by the Tianwen-1 probe, China's first Mars exploration mission, reporting to the people of the whole country on the safety of the Tianwen-1 and extending festive greetings. As of December 31, 2021, the Tianwen-1 orbiter has been in orbit for 526 days, and the Zhurong rover has traveled more than 1,400 meters on the surface of Mars.
On January 1, the China National Space Administration released a set of exquisite images transmitted from distant Mars by the Tianwen-1 probe, China's first Mars exploration mission, reporting to the people of the whole country on the safety of Tianwen-1 and sending holiday greetings. The picture shows the orbiter and Mars. Image source: China National Space Administration
This set of images includes a group photo of the orbiter and Mars, a local close-up of the orbiter, the Arctic ice sheet of Mars, and the fire surface landform photographed by the "Zhurong" rover, showing the working state of the orbiter, the "Zhurong" rover and the acquired surface form of Mars.
In the image of the orbiter and Mars, the orbiter is flying over the north pole of Mars, the orbiter body is golden, the directional antenna that communicates with the ground for high-speed data communication is silver, and the solar wing and radar antenna are well deployed. The picture shows a local close-up of the surrounder. Image source: China National Space Administration
In the image of the orbiter and Mars, the orbiter is flying over the north pole of Mars, the orbiter body is golden, the directional antenna that communicates with the ground for high-speed data communication is silver, and the solar wing and radar antenna are well deployed. The white area on Mars is the "ice" field covering the North Pole, and unlike the ice at the poles of Earth, the "ice" of Mars consists of dry ice (solid carbon dioxide) and water ice. The dark area below Mars is the Martian Olympiashapo, the bright ring crater in the upper left corner is called Korolev Crater, and the rest of the red and dark areas are bare surfaces.
In the local close-up image of the surrounder, the solar wing on one side of the orbiter is fully extended and stable. An expanded subsurface detection radar antenna parallel to the solar wing, the magnetometer rod protruding toward the upper left of the orbiter.
This set of images includes a group photo of the orbiter and Mars, a local close-up of the orbiter, the Arctic ice sheet of Mars, and the fire surface landform photographed by the "Zhurong" rover, showing the working state of the orbiter, the "Zhurong" rover and the acquired surface form of Mars. The picture shows the North Pole Ice Sheet of Mars. Image source: China National Space Administration
In the image of the Martian Arctic Ice Sheet, the Martian Arctic Ice Sheet is clearly visible, and after years of sedimentation and ablation, it presents a circular spiral-shaped landform composed of white ice and bare surface centered on the pole.
The "Zhurong" Mars rover's fire surface landform image is spliced and inlaid by the "Zhurong" rover recently using the navigation terrain camera to stitch together and mosaic, and the typical landforms of Mars such as ring craters and stones can be seen in the picture.
As of December 31, 2021, the Tianwen-1 orbiter has been in orbit for 526 days, and the Zhurong rover has traveled more than 1,400 meters on the surface of Mars. The picture shows the "Zhu Rong" rover photographing the fire surface landform. Image source: China National Space Administration
As of December 31, 2021, the Tianwen-1 orbiter has been in orbit for 526 days, currently about 350 million kilometers from Earth, with a communication delay of about 19.5 minutes; the rover has worked on the surface of Mars for 225 Martian days, with a cumulative travel of more than 1400 meters. At present, the Tianwen-1 mission is carrying out exploration and related tests as planned, sending back a total of about 560GB of raw scientific data, and the two devices are in good condition and running normally. (End)