Zhurong Finds its Own Parachute on the Surface of Mars

By Nancy Atkinson July 26, 2021
Zhurong Finds its Own Parachute on the Surface of Mars

As of July 23, 2021, China's Mars rover Zhurong has traveled 585 meters across the surface of Mars. And along the way, it’s taking pictures of interesting sights.

Some of the most intriguing recent images from the rover show debris from the rover’s landing. During its drives, the rover came upon the parachute and backshell. The China National Space Administration says as the rover drove south of its landing site, it first “saw” the debris on the horizon with its front obstacle avoidance camera, and then took a closer image (lead image) with its navigation terrain camera.

CNSA said the rover was about 30 meters away from the parachute and backshell assembly in this image, and about 350 meters away from the landing site.

Zhruong's front obstacle avoidance camera took this image of the backshell in the distance. Credit: CNSA.

July 23 marked the first anniversary of the launch of the Tianwen-1 and Zhurong rover mission. The lander carrying the rover touched down on Mars on May 15 of this year, landing in the southern part of Utopia Planitia, a vast plain in the northern hemisphere of Mars.

Here are more images from Zhurong:

 Image from the rear obstacle avoidance camera looking back at the rover's path past the backshell and parachute. Credit: CNSA

Martian rock surfaces covered with dust. (CNSA/via Xinhua)

This image shows wheel tracks from the rover, along with Martian rocks soil. Credit: CNSA/via Xinhua)

Sources: CNSA, Xinhua

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com