China's Zhu Rong robot takes a selfie on Mars

China's Mars rover sends back to Earth a new selfie, showing a dusty surface and long rear wheel tracks.

As of March 24, the Chuc Dung self-propelled robot has performed missions on the red planet's surface in 306 days (Mars day) with a journey of 1.78km, while the Thien Van 1 orbiter flies around. planet for 609 days at a distance of 277 million km from Earth.

Robot Chuc Dung takes a selfie on Mars.

The China National Space Administration (CNSA) on Thursday released new high-definition images from both the orbiter and surface probe robot of the survey area on the red planet.

While Thien Van 1 captures Chuc Dung's clear path from above, the probe robot sends back to Earth a selfie (selfie) from the surface, providing a closer look.

Compared to the photo taken in May when the lander landed on Mars, the new selfie shows a thin layer of dust on the robot's surface and two long wheel tracks on the back.

According to CNSA, the sandstorm on Mars has directly affected Chuc Dung's access to energy. Telemetry indicates that the dust has reduced the solar panels' power generation efficiency, but still generates enough power for the robot to continue its exploration.

The project team has been monitoring the weather of Mars through images taken by the Tianwen 1 spacecraft and they have found that since late January, high winds have blown away the sand and caused them to accumulate in the area. north of the 60th latitude of the planet.

The northern hemisphere of Mars is entering autumn, a time of frequent sandstorms. Even so, scientists have not yet observed significant dusty weather in the survey area of ​​the robot Chuc Dung.