China’s Zhurong Mars rover is soldiering on after completing its initial program to explore the Mars and look for frozen water that would provide clues on whether it once supported life.
China’s National Space Administration said on its website Friday that Zhurong completed its 90-day program on Aug. 15 and was in excellent technical condition and fully charged.
It said it might still explore the world referred to as Utopia Planitia where it landed on May 14. Zhurong has been consistently sending back photos and data via the Tianwen-1 orbiter that crosses over it once each day .
After the us , China is that the second country to land and sustainably operate a spacecraft on Mars, where days are 40 minutes longer than on Earth.
At 1.85 meters (6 feet) tall , Zhurong is significantly smaller than the American Perseverance rover, which is exploring the earth with a small helicopter. NASA expects its rover to gather its first sample in July for return to Earth as early as 2031.
Concurrently, China is assembling its permanent space platform , with three astronauts now aboard the Tianhe, or Heavenly Harmony, core that was put into orbit on April 29. Two of the astronauts completed their second activity on Friday. All three are thanks to return to Earth in September and get replaced by a replacement crew.
China earlier launched two smaller experimental space stations. it’s been excluded from the International space platform largely at the insistence of the us , which is wary of the Chinese space program’s secrecy and shut military links. Congressional approval is additionally required for any cooperation between NASA and therefore the CNSA.
China also recently brought back lunar samples, the primary by any country’s program since the 1970s, and has landed a search and rover on the moon’s less explored far side.
China first put an astronaut into orbit in 2003, becoming just the third country to try to to so.
