This panorama was captured by China's Zhurong Mars Rover. The communications equipment and solar panels of the rover are visible in the foreground.
China's Mars Rover Zhurong has created a stunning new panorama of its surroundings, Utopia Planitia. This marks 100 days of activity on Mars. As preparations continue for this fall, the rover will spend more than one month in safe mode.
Since May 22, when it landed on the Martian surface, the six-wheeled solar-powered rover covered 3,491 feet (1.064 meters). The rover and Tianwen-1, its orbiting companion, will remain in safe mode from mid-September through late October because the sun's charged particles disrupt their communication with Earth.
Related: China's Tianwen 1 Mars Rover Mission in Photos
Panorama of Utopia Planitia as seen by the Zhurong Rover in August 2021. Image credit: CNSA/PEC
Zhurong stopped to look around the area with its panoramic camera as it prepared for the break. The returned image shows Zhurong with its antenna and solar arrays close to a dunes. This feature is one Zhurong mission scientists would like to study. On the horizon, you can see a number of distant features, including the backshell of the May landing of the rover. Zhurong inspected the discarded gear in person in July.
Zhurong has been moving from its landing platform south since May 14, and deployed onto the surface one week later. It has been analyzing various rocks, dunes, and other features while it moves.
Zhurong's Tianwen-1 orbiter, with which it made a trip to Mars, has been orbiting so that Zhurong is passed over once per day to relay data from mission control in China. A high-resolution image taken by Tianwen-1 also shows Zhurong's journey to Mars, as well as tracks of the rover's departure from the Martian surface. This was released by the National Astronomical Observatories of China.
High-resolution image taken by the Tianwen-1 orbiter, showing Zhurong’s roving progress from late August 2021. NAOC image credit
A new paper on Zhurong's geological characteristics identifies several features and landforms scientists are hoping to study as the mission continues south.
According to the paper, the rover is expected to investigate transverse aeolian dunes or ridges as well as troughs caused by erosion and especially mysterious pitted cones. Zhurong's ground-penetrating radar will be used by scientists to measure the thickness and distributions of Martian soil close to certain landforms that are hypothesized to have been formed by subsurface water or even ice.
Water would have significant implications for Mars' climate history, future crewed missions, and as a habitat for subsurface life.
A number of pitted cones can be found a few kilometers south of the rover's location, according to the paper. These features could be examined with Zhurong’s multispectral camera, terrain camera, and Mars Surface Composition detector. Current hypotheses range from hydrovolcanism, volcanism, mud or hydrovolcanism or underground water flows.
Despite their industry, Zhurong-1 and Tianwen-1 both will soon be in safe mode due to a solar conjunction that prevents communications between Earth and Mars. The sun and charged particles it emits will block our view of Mars and interfere with radio communications between them. This will cause both spacecraft to halt their activities in mid-September and late October.
A route map that shows Zhurong's journey south from its landing platform. Image credit: BACC
The spacecraft will perform autonomous health assessments, self monitoring, and troubleshooting until communication can be restored.
To celebrate Zhurong's 100th day on Mars, the People's Bank of China and China's National Space Administration jointly released commemorative coins in silver and gold featuring the rover.
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter @Spacedotcom
