Tianwen-1 mission to Mars celebrates 1st anniversary with new images



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A collection of notable moments from Tianwen-1, China’s first mission to Mars, was released on Friday by the Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center of the National Space Administration of China (CNSA), reviewing the pioneering journey carried out by the Mars probe on the 1st anniversary of its launch.

New images of wind-induced sand dunes were transmitted to the control center by the rover this week.

The Tianwen-1 mission was approved in January 2016 and the probe launched on July 23, 2020, after which it conducted deep space maneuvers and expeditions on the Red Planet.

On February 10, the Tianwen-1 successfully entered the orbit of the Red Planet after activating a crucial braking system to slow the speed of the spacecraft, allowing it to be captured by the gravity of Mars. , thus becoming the first Chinese satellite on Mars. He drove 475 million kilometers for 202 days.

On May 15, the Tianwen-1 landed on the Red Planet in a preselected landing zone in the southern part of an icy area of ​​the planet known as Utopia Planitia.

The Martian landscape captured by the Zhurong rover. / CNSA

The Martian landscape captured by the Zhurong rover. / CNSA

Since then, Zhurong has detected and explored the Martian surface, sending in photos of his terrain and a few selfies.

On June 11, the CNSA held a ceremony marking the “complete” success of China’s first mission to Mars.

As of July 23, Zhurong had worked 68 Martian days, covering a total of 585 meters. Its orbiter has been in operation for a year, approximately 378 million kilometers from Earth.

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