90 days on Mars by Chinese probe

China's Zhurong probe has spent three months on the red planet, completing exploration and discovery missions as planned.

According to the China National Space Administration (CNSA), as of August 15, the Zhu Rong probe has traveled 889m above the Martian surface and collected about 10 gigabytes of data. This six-wheeled, 240kg, solar-powered robot has activated all its scientific equipment to carry out the tasks.

Simulation of the ship Chuc Dung rolling off the landing pad on May 22. (Photo: CNSA).

The Chuc Dung spacecraft landed on the red planet's surface on May 15 and began rolling around looking for evidence of life a few days later. On August 15, the robot spent 90 days on Mars as expected, equivalent to 92 days on Earth, but for now, it is still operating stably with enough energy.

"Over the past three months, the robot has taken 360-degree panoramic images, providing a view and leaving China's mark on Mars," emphasized mission chief designer Zhang Rongqiao.

According to the CNSA research team, so far, the work on processing and verifying the quality of data collected by the Chuc Dung spacecraft, including topography, atmosphere and spectra on the red planet, has been completed. Fort. The robot's surface magnetic field detector also captures local magnetic field data and combines it with the orbiter's magnetometer to explore the evolution of the Martian magnetic field.

The Martian landscape captured by the topographic camera on board the Chuc Dung spacecraft. (Photo: CNSA).

In the near future, the probe will continue to move to the boundary between the ancient sea and the land in the southern part of the Utopia Planitia plain to perform additional tasks.

"We want to help scientists gain insight into whether there is an ancient sea in the Utopia Planitia area," said Liu Jianjun, principal designer of the terrestrial application system at the Utopia Planitia. Chuc Dung mission, added.