China on Mars: Zhurong Rover Sends Back First Images

China has released the first photographs taken by its Zhurong rover on Mars.

The frontward view displays the landscape ahead of the robot as it sits on its landing platform; the rear-looking image discloses Zhurong's solar panels, reports BBC.

The rover touched down on Mars early on Sunday, Beijing time.

In doing so, it made China only the second country - after America - to successfully put a probe on the surface of Mars and operate it for a substantial length of time.

Chinese experts hope to get at least 90 Martian days of service out of the six-wheeled robot at its location on Utopia Planitia, vast terrain in the planet's northern hemisphere.

The images were posted on the website of China's National Space Administration (CNSA). There are even a handful of short movies that show the rover's aeroshell - the capsule is used to enter the Martian atmosphere - separating from the Tianwen-1 orbiter, the satellite that carried it from Earth.

The surface imagery tells us that critical hardware deployment after landing was completed cleanly.

These deployments included the unfurling of the solar arrays to provide power to the robot; the release of the antenna to communicate with Tianwen-1, and onwards with controllers back in China; and the extension of the ramp down which Zhurong will soon roll to begin its mobile mission.

Zhurong looks a lot like the US space agency's (Nasa) Spirit and Opportunity vehicles from the 2000s.

It weighs some 240kg. A tall mast carries cameras to take pictures and aid navigation; five additional instruments will investigate the mineralogy of local rocks and the general nature of the environment, including the weather.

Like the current American rovers (Curiosity and Perseverance), Zhurong has a laser tool to zap rocks to assess their chemistry. It also has a radar to look for sub-surface water-ice - a capability its American cousins don't share.
Utopia Planitia is where Nasa landed its Viking-2 mission in 1976.

It's a colossal basin - more than 3,000km across - that was formed by an impact early in Mars' history.

There is some evidence pointing to it having held an ocean long ago.

Remote sensing by satellites indicates there are significant stores of ice at depth.
America put down the much larger (one tonne) Perseverance robot in February.

Europe, which has twice failed with landing attempts, will send a rover called Rosalind Franklin to Mars next year (in a joint project with the Russians).