HiRISE, NASA’s super-sharp-vision spacecraft camera that has orbited Mars for more than 15 years, captured a panoramic image of China’s first rover on Mars.
The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) NASA took picture of Chinese roverAbout three weeks after the wheeled robot landed with a stationary probe on the vast plain of the Red Planet known as Utopia Planitia, with an estimated diameter of 3,300 kilometers, called Zurong.
“Clearly visible is what we interpret as the lander surrounded by an explosion pattern, and the rover itself is slightly to the south after descending from the lander,” wrote members of the HiRISE team in a description of the photo was released last Thursday (10). )
Heat shield for the Chinese Jurong Mars rover, as taken from the HiRISE camera on MRO
“This image shows that the surrounding area is very typical of southern Utopia Planitia, a smooth area and almost no rock,” he said. “The luminous curved features are aeolian (wind-blown) relief shapes.”
HiRISE images also show the hardware that helped Zurong and its landing module reach the Martian surface safely. The mission’s heat shield, rear shield and parachute can be seen.
The parachute and protection of the Chinese Jurong Mars rover are visible in the lower left corner of this image, captured by MRO’s HiRISE camera on June 6, 2021.
Second The space portal is part of the Zurong Tianwen-1 mission, which was launched towards the Red Planet in July 2020. Tianwen-1 also includes an orbiter, which is study of mars from above and acting as a relay link between the Zurong and the controllers on Earth.
The Chinese rover will study the geology of its landing zone and hunt for water ice, among other tasks, during a surface mission designed to last at least three months. However, the Tianwen-1 orbiter will conduct mineral and other investigations of Mars for at least one year, which is equivalent to 687 Earth days.
NASA’s MRO camera has been in operation for a long time and has captured countless robot pictures on the surface of Mars. space shuttle mars For more than 15 years, studying the planet’s geology and climate, exploring future landing sites and relaying communications from surface craft to Earth, among other tasks.
