Martian Winds And Robot Sounds: China's Zhurong Rover Sends Back First Video And Audio That It Captures On Red Planet's Surface

China's Tianwen-1 probe landed on the surface of Mars in May 2021, making it only the third country to accomplish this milestone. Its first interplanetary rover, dubbed Zhurong, was also on board and the same can be seen and heard when it was moving on the red planet in recently released recordings. The deployment of a supersonic disk-gap-band parachute, separation of the backshell, powered descent and a hazard-avoidance hover phase are all recorded during the entry, descent, as well as landing.

China's Tianwen-1 mission launched to Mars in July 2020 and entered Mars orbit on 10 February. Later, it landed on Utopia Planitia, a plain in the planet's northern hemisphere. Before rolling down to the dusty surface to begin its adventures, the Zhurong rover stayed atop the lander module for about a week examining its surroundings and verifying its instruments. The China National Space Administration's (CNSA) recordings, which were aired by Chinese broadcaster CCTV, shed additional light on the rover's first days on the red planet.

However, the Chinese rover will examine Mars using cameras, a subsurface radar, a magnetic field detector, as well as other scientific instruments, while it is estimated that Zhurong will live for 90 days. A laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy sensor for analysing surface elements and minerals, panoramic and multispectral imagers, a climate station, magnetometer, and ground-penetrating radar are among Zhurong's six science packages.

Jia Yang, the deputy chief designer of the Tianwen-1 Mars probe, told CCTV: "Zhurong rover is more independent in its driving on Mars [compared with China's Yutu lunar rovers]. It can judge by itself whether there is a path ahead based on its own image analysis. It will make a judgment about everyone meter in its driving and move towards the target set by the ground".