China's Zhurong rover has quietly clocked up 1,900 feet (585 meters) of driving on Mars and has been using its science instruments to check out nearby geologic features in Utopia Planitia.
Zhurong's latest exploits have seen it analyze dunes amid the local rocky Martian terrain and visit the backshell and parachute that helped the rover land safely on the Red Planet.
A new release by the China National Space Administration on July 23, also marking the first anniversary of the launch of China's Tianwen-1 Mars mission, showed Zhurong had visited a second wind-formed sand dune.
The rover used its surface composition detectors, multi-spectral cameras and other science payloads to analyze the formation, according to the update.
Zhurong landed on Mars in May and rolled onto the surface a week later, making China just the second country after the United States to land and operate a rover on Mars. The rover's first feat was driving away from the lander, dropping a small, remote camera, and returning to pose with the lander for an epic selfie.
Later updates have included remarkable roving footage as well as sounds captured by the rover's climate station.
The solar-powered rover has since been making its way south of the landing site. The CNSA released a map showing Zhurong's travels up to July 21 and covering 66 Mars days, or sols. Both Zhurong's parent orbiter, Tianwen-1, and NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have also been monitoring the journey.
This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Space.com's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.Sara Webb, PhD candidate in Astrophysics, Swinburne University of Technology
Rebecca Allen, Swinburne Space Office Project Coordinator | Manager Swinburne Astronomy Productions, Swinburne University of Technology
China's Zhurong rover landed safely on Mars on May 15, making China only the third country to successfully land a rover on the red planet.
More impressively still, China is the first Mars-going nation to carry out an orbiting, landing and rovering operation as its first mission.
Planetary scientist Roberto Orosei told Nature China is "doing in a single go what NASA took decades to do," while astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell described China's decision to include a rover in its maiden Mars outing as a "very gutsy move."
Where did it land?
Zhurong, named after the god of fire in Chinese mythology, separated from the Tianwen-1 orbiter and touched down close to the site of previous NASA missions, on a vast plain called Utopia Planitia. TO READ ENTIRE ARTICLE, CLICK HERE...
