Zhurong: New Rover on Mars

APOD.NASA.gov ^ | 15 Jun, 2021 | Image Credit: China National Space Administration

[MtnClimber]

Explanation: There's a new rover on Mars. In mid-May, China's Tianwen-1 mission delivered the Zhurong rover onto the red planet. As Mars means Planet of Fire in Chinese, the Zhurong rover's name means, roughly, God of Fire in Chinese mythology. Zhurong landed in northern Utopia Planitia, the largest known impact basin in the Solar System, and an area reported to have much underground ice. Among many other scientific instruments, Zhurong carries ground-penetrating radar that can detect ice buried even 100-meters deep. Car-sized Zhurong is pictured here next to its landing base. The image was snapped by a remote camera deployed by the rolling rover. Zhurong's planned 90-day mission includes studying the geology, soil, and atmosphere of Mars in Utopia Planitia.

[MtnClimber]

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[MtnClimber]

[rfp1234]

D’oh!. Misread headline as “River”.

[MtnClimber]

Pinging the APOD list.

🪐 🌟 🌌

I know it is China. I don't pick them, I just post what NASA puts up.

[GraceG]

Looks like they stole most of it from us...

[edwinland]

Brilliant move to drop a remote camera to photograph the rover itself.

American photos “just” show Mars itself, without the self aggrandizement.

[Steely Tom]

Fake.

[dragnet2]

Brilliant move to drop a remote camera to photograph the rover itself.

More brilliant than launching a helicopter to take images of our rover from every angle?

[butlerweave]

Looks like dried up sewage

[Candor7]

Did Fow Xi help fund it?

[doorgunner69]

Looks like “Number 5” is alive.

[John Milner]

Will it be going anywhere near where Neil Armstrong put the American Flag in 1969?

Dumb congress-critters want to know.

[edwinland]

The helicopter is way better. But still less self aggrandizing

[dragnet2]

Btw, our rovers have been taking selfies for many years. It’s nothing new.

[edwinland]

I see every photo that comes out of these missions. They do some shots down from above, and others where a part of the rover is in the frame, but nothing as perfect (of the rover) as these Chinese shots. Clearly they were thinking they need to brag about their rover itself, while we are focused on the science.

[rx]

Fake.

I have to wonder why the craft thingy-on-the-right's legs seem to be in lower resolution and are pixelated and have halo'd edges, while the edges of the Lohver itself have nice, crisp image edges.

[Steely Tom]

Fake, fake, fake, fake.

[dayglored]

I dislike the Chicoms as much as anybody, but credit where due: They soft-landed a freakin' spacecraft on freakin' Mars, and their rover survived enough to place a camera and take a selfie. It's a considerable accomplishment, and if they want to brag a little, so what? It doesn't take anything away from us. A nice picture is just that... a nice picture.

Let's see what their scientific payloads can do. That's what counts.

[PLMerite]

[Zhurong: New Rover on Mars]

More like a blatant "Johnny 5" ripoff.

[dragnet2]

Clearly they were thinking they need to brag about their rover itself, while we are focused on the science.

After watching our helicopter Ingenuity fly around, they probably figured a selfie would impress.☺

Considering what our rover's have accomplished for many years now, and all the accumulated data which will be studied for years to come, I'm just not overly impressed with a pic of a Chinese rover.