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| The Zhurong rover, named after a mythical Chinese fire god, has been studying the topography of a vast Martian lava plain known as the Utopia Planitia. (Photo by=AFP/HANDOUT) |
[Asia News = Reporter Reakkana] BEIJING: Solar panel "wings" spread out and two cameras "eyes" pointing ahead, China's Mars rover Zhurong struck a birdlike pose as it explored the Red Planet in photos released by the country's space agency on Friday (Jun 11).
Zhurong's touchdown in May was the first-ever successful probe landing by any country on its first Mars mission - a milestone in China's ascent to space superpower status. The rover, named after a mythical Chinese fire god, has since been studying the topography of a vast Martian lava plain known as the Utopia Planitia. Photos published by the China National Space Administration showed tracks in the red soil left by Zhurong, which the agency described as "China's imprint", after it drove onto the planet's surface from a landing platform adorned with a large Chinese flag.
The six-wheeled, solar-powered, 240kg Zhurong is expected to spend three months taking photos, harvesting geographical data, and collecting rock samples. China has now sent astronauts into space, powered probes to the moon, and landed a rover on Mars - one of the most prestigious of all prizes in the competition for dominion of space. Meanwhile, the United States and Russia are the only other countries to have reached Mars, and only the former has operated a rover on the surface.
