These images are out of this world.
The first photos of China’s Mars rover show the six-wheeled robot perched on a landing platform with the red planet’s icy surface in the distance.
The space vehicle — named Zhurong after the Chinese god of fire and war — beamed back a black-and-white photo of the desolate plain known as Utopia Planitia, the China National Space Administration said Wednesday.
The striking image shows a ramp that will guide the spacecraft to its mission, casting a shadow on the planet’s soil — after it plunged through the planet’s atmosphere and landed Friday.
A color photo of the spacecraft’s backside also reveals four wing-like solar panels.
The feat makes China the third nation, after the US and the Soviet Union, to successfully land a spacecraft on Mars and establish communication.
Zhurong will study the geology and climate of Mars during the planned three-month mission, using China’s first robotic laboratory on Mars.



The first week will be dedicated to probing its surroundings and testing the vehicle’s systems and instruments, according to space.com.
The rover was launched for the Tianwen-1 mission and arrived in the planet’s orbit in February after a months-long voyage.
Only the US has safely landed and operated a spacecraft on Mars — first in 1976 and again in with the Perseverance rover in February.






