NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Greets China Mars Zhurong Rover From Orbit After Leaving Marks On Red Planet

Through the work of the HiRise team, NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter recently recorded China's Zhurong rover roaming the Martian terrain.

The American space agency had a look at this Chinese spacecraft in the red planet's Utopia Planitia.

NASA Mars Reconnaissance Rover's HiRise Team Says Hello To China Mars Rover

CNET reported that the international space agency has succeeded in spotting the legendary Zhurong spacecraft.

Following the Tianwen-1 mission, the solar-powered equipment has been a significant aspect of China's space research.

It's worth noting that the mission isn't only about Zhurong, since there's an orbiter and a lander visible. The latter is well-known for its selfies.

NASA detected the rover's activity over the Utopia Planitia, Mars' biggest impact basin, based on recent pictures.

IFL Science said HiRISE camera on MRO can spot a car-sized rover from about 288 kilometers (179 miles) above the surface, so this picture also gives us an idea of how sharp it is.

Zhurong is 2.6 by 3 meters (8 feet 6 inches by 9 feet 10 inches), so this picture also gives an idea of how sharp the HiRISE camera on MRO is.

The mission of Zhurong, which was supposed to last 90 days, has been extended, and the rover is now exploring Utopia Planitia in search of fascinating geology - and maybe indications of ancient life.

Zhurong Leaves Track On Mars

Furthermore, the HiRise camera detected the Zhurong truck moving on its wheels. According to the crew, it appeared to be crossing a dusty environment and tracing its way back and forth.

There's one more fascinating thing to mention about this find. NASA published a picture of the Chinese space robot's path for a closer look. The top-view image revealed multiple tracks along the road, with coverage extending roughly 1 mile from the starting location.

The Chinese space agency was looking forward to taking Zhurong on a longer journey after successfully completing a three-month-long mission.

It is, in some ways, excellent news for China, since it demonstrates that it is capable of reaching new heights in terms of space research and discovery.

About HiRise Camera

Like the majority of Mars orbiting cameras, HiRISE takes photos in long, thin strips. SciTechDaily said the rach strip is around 5 kilometers wide due to how the camera detectors are set up - with 10 detectors lined up in an array.

However, HiRISE contains two extra pairs of detectors on the two center strips for color data, resulting in a 1-kilometer wide core color swath.

MRO is around 316 kilometers (250 miles) above the Martian surface in its orbit. It can capture photos of Mars with resolutions of 0.3 m/pixel (approximately 1 foot) at this height, allowing it to resolve things smaller than a meter wide.

With that kind of power, it can spot the many Mars landers and rovers on the surface, like Opportunity, Curiosity, and Perseverance. Curiosity and Perseverance were even photographed by HiRISE as they descended to the surface using parachutes.

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