Chinese rover Zhurong Mars visits its own parachute

HELSINKI – Chinese rover Zhurong approached and photographed the parachute and rear hull that helped the vehicle land safely on Mars.

The 240-kilogram solar-powered Zhurong captured the image of the discarded objects on July 12 Beijing time from a distance of 30 meters.

Zhurong landed on Mars on May 14 after three months in orbit to prepare for its landing attempt.

The rover has now traveled 450 meters in Utopia Planitia as of July 15, Beijing time, according to to the Chinese lunar exploration program. The parachute and rear hull are located approximately 350 meters south of the rover’s landing pad.

The landing sequence heat shield is located hundreds of meters further southwest. China has not announced a plan for the Zhurong road route. NASA’s Opportunity rover picture its own heat shield in December 2004.

Zhurong operates for 60 sols and has a main mission of 90 sols (92 Earth days). It is currently unknown whether Zhurong’s mission will be extended beyond.

Chinese orbiter Tianwen-1, which transported Zhurong and entered Martian orbit on February 10, is currently in an 8.2-hour orbit, allowing passage over Utopia Planitia once over ground to help relay data back to Earth across hundreds of millions of kilometers of space.

Zhurong is equipped with six scientific payloads, including a laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy instrument for the analysis of surface elements and minerals, panoramic and multispectral imagers, a climate station, a magnetometer and a ground penetrating radar. .

Peter Grindrod at the Natural History Museum in London, said News at the beginning of June that orbital images of the immediate landing zone show bright linear features nearby that are likely a type of feature called transverse wind ridge (TAR) that might be of interest to scientists. Zhurong visited one of these features on June 26 (Sol 42) according to CLEP.

Grindod notes that there are many interesting raised mounds in the area, which could be inverted impact craters or possibly small volcanic domes, while other features could be the result of tectonic activity. Zhurong’s route and ability to access these areas will, however, depend on scientific goals and priorities and the length of his mission.

Meanwhile, the Chinese rover Yutu-2 is expected to complete its 32nd lunar day on July 16 as the sun sets over Von Kármán crater on the other side of the moon. The 140-kilogram solar rover has traveled 738.6 meters since disembarkation in January 2019.

A Chinese popular science account Noted On July 13, Zhurong walked the field much faster than Yutu-2 due to greater range and ability to overcome obstacles. Yutu-2 is also needed to shut down for the deep cold of lunar nights and the high solar radiation of lunar midday.