The China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced this week that the Chinese Tianwen-1 was able to image the entire surface of the red planet. A global survey has been taking pictures of the planet's surface since the orbiter arrived at Mars.
During its time on the red planet, the Tianwen-1orbiter made 1,344 passes around the planet and made observations with scientific instruments. The CNSA says it imaged the whole surface with its medium-resolution camera during the period when the orbiter was in operation.
Andrew Jones, a space journalist, shared a selection of images taken from the red planet's surface, which included impact craters and other features.
Tianwen-1 has completed a global imaging of Mars with its medium resolution camera after orbiting the Red Planet 1,344 times. Tianwen-1 launched in July 2020 and entered Mars orbit in Feb. 2021. Images: CNSA/PEChttps://t.co/LBNqejfu9W pic.twitter.com/UvW9WGjp0Y
— Andrew Jones (@AJ_FI) June 29, 2022
The lander that carried the rover to the surface is one part of the mission. The rover has traveled over 2,000 meters across the planet. The rover was switched into inactive mode in May due to the cold weather and will be put back into use in December.
As both the rover and the orbiter are still working, they will continue to be utilized for future exploration. The European Space Agency and NASA have received 1,040GB of data from the Canadian Space Agency.
Some commentators argue that this sharing of data is a sign that the secretive CNSA is becoming more open about its work, as demonstrated in a white paper released in 2021, which lays out some of the past and future plans of the agency. An in-orbit relay communication test was recently performed with the Mars Express spacecraft.
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