Check Out This Video of China’s Rover Taking Selfies on Mars
June 28, 2021China’s space agency has for the first time released footage and audio from its Mars rover, showing its descent, touchdown and selfie-taking skills on the red planet.
The series of clips, posted by the country’s space program on Sunday, captured key moments from the Zhurong rover during and after its historic Mars landing in May. Named after the god of fire in Chinese mythology, the robot is one of three Mars rovers currently in operation, along with NASA’s Curiosity and Perseverance.
China has previously released still images from the rover. The latest films, relayed to Earth through its Mars orbiter Tianwen-1, were published to mark the Communist Party’s 100th birthday, which is officially set for July 1, according to the China National Space Administration.
“The orbiter and the Mars rover were working well,” it said in an online statement, “reporting its safety to the party and the motherland from Mars, and sending distant blessings for the centenary of the party’s founding.”
In the first video, a parachute from the rover opens during the descent onto Mars. In a downward-facing view, the planet’s surface can be seen as the contraption lands.
Another clip captured the humming noises from the rover as it rolled down a metal rack that connected the landing platform to the Mars surface on May 22.
More interestingly, two more videos from June 1 show the rover moving backward after placing a WiFi-connected camera on the ground. It then posed for a selfie with the lander, before making a turn to show its side to the camera for another selfie.
State media have praised the rover’s agility in taking the “adorable” selfies.
NASA’s rovers have also sent back footage of Mars landings and recorded driving sounds, while China said its footage marked the first time humans acquired videos showing a Mars rover moving on the planet.
The Mars mission is a key step in China’s fast-expanding space program. This month, the country also sent three astronauts to its first space station, which will become fully functional in 2022. The astronauts are expected to stay in space for three months.
By Sunday morning, the Mars rover had travelled 236 meters (774 feet) since it arrived on the planet on May 15, according to China’s space agency. The six-wheeled, 240-kilogram rover is exploring an area called Utopia Planitia and has a designed lifespan of 90 Martian days, or about 92 days on Earth.
Jia Yang, an engineer with China’s Mars mission, told state broadcaster CCTV that the rover was able to drive over rocks that were 10 to 15 centimeters tall, and could determine its own route based on the images captured by its own cameras.
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