China Shows First High-definition Pictures of Mars Taken by Tianwen-1
The China National Space Administration made public on March 4, 2021 the first high-definition pictures of Mars taken by the nation's spacecraft.
The pictures — two black-and-white and one colored — were shot (recent) by China's Tianwen-1 robotic probe when spacecraft was travelling in Mars' orbit, according to the administration.
The two black-and-white (image) were taken by the high-definition camera on Tianwen-1's orbiter when the probe was about 330 to 350 kilometers above the Martian surface. The colored picture was generated by another camera on the orbiter, (show) Mars' north pole.
As the first (independence) Mars mission of the country, Tianwen-1 (launch) by a Long March 5 heavy-lift carrier rocket on July 23, 2020 from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province, starting the nation's planetary exploration program.
The probe, consists of two major parts — the orbiter and the landing capsule — has successfully landed on Mars.
It entered (it) preset parking orbit above Mars and flew in this orbit for about three months releasing its landing capsule, said the administration.
All of the seven mission payloads (有效载荷) on the orbiter were activated during the probe's stay in the parking orbit (carry) out scientific tasks and also to observe and analyze the landforms(地貌) and weather of the best landing site.
