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Mars rover Zhurong (provided by the China National Space Administration)

China has published the first images and videos from its Tianwen-1 mission to Mars since the rover landed on Saturday.

Photos released by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) on Wednesday show Zhurong, the rover, on the red soil of Mars, indicating that the landing was a success.

The images include a black-and-white photograph taken with the obstacle detection camera on the front of the rover and two-color photos taken with the navigation camera on the back of the rover. The photos are all dated to Monday.

The black-and-white photograph shows the area in front of Zhurong, including the ramp that the rover will use to descend from the lander.

The two long poles on both sides at the top of the photograph are part of a ground-penetrating radar. Just like Perseverance, Zhurong has a radar that can penetrate up to 100 meters underground.

The flat landscape of Utopia Planitia in Mars (provided by the China National Space Administration)

The roundness of the horizon in the photograph is an artifact of the camera’s large wide-angle lens.

The color photographs are “selfies” of the rover, showing that the solar panels and antenna have unfolded normally.

A video that was also released shows the moment when the lander separated from the orbiter to prepare for landing on Mars. (provided by the China National Space Administration)

A video that was also released shows the moment when the lander separated from the orbiter to prepare for landing on Mars. That video was shot with a camera on the orbiter.

The CNSA said that the rover is currently preparing to leave the lander.

Zhurong is a six-wheeled rover, weighing 240 kilograms with a height of 1.85 meters. After leaving the lander, it will navigate its surroundings for 90 days for its missions of analyzing Mars’ topography and geology, searching for ice underground, and making atmospheric and meteorological measurements.

The rover is powered by solar cells and can move up to 200 meters in an hour.

By Kwak No-pil, senior staff writer

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