Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Credit: NASA

NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has taken a second look at China’s Zhurong rover, now rolling across southern Utopia Planitia.

The Chinese Tianwen-1 mission landed on the Red Planet on May 14, 2021.

NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) image from June 6 shows China’s rover.
Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

China’s Zhurong rover wheels to the south, clearly shown in this June 11 image acquired by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

Credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab

Using the NASA spacecraft’s powerful High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera system, images of the landing zone were acquired on June 6 and June 11. The landing site remains clearly colored from removal of Martian dust during landing.  In comparing the two images, movement of the Zhurong rover toward the south can be seen.

Liu Jianjun, chief designer of the ground application system of the Tianwen-1 probe, recently told the China Global Television Network (CGTN): “We selected this particular direction for several reasons. The altitude picks up that way, from the ancient Martian ocean to land. And that’s also where we’ll come across some of the most interesting things we care about, like mud volcanoes and sub-surface ice.”