Chinese spacecraft acquires images of entire planet of Mars

BEIJING –

 An uncrewed Chinese spacecraft has acquired imagery data covering all of Mars, including visuals of its South Pole, after circling the planet more than 1,300 times since early last year, state media reported on Wednesday.

China’s Tianwen-1 successfully reached Red Planet in February 2021 during the country’s first mission there. As an orbiter that surveyed the planet from orbit, a robotic rover was deployed on the surface.

China’s first images from space include China’s first photographs taken at the Martian South Pole. This is where nearly all of the planet’s water resources are contained.

2018 was a year that the European Space Agency’s orbiting probe discovered water beneath the ice at the South Pole of the planet.

Finding subsurface water is crucial for determining the planet’s potential to support life. It also provides a permanent resource for any human exploration.

Other Tianwen-1 photos include photographs of the 4,000-kilometre (2.485-mile) canyon Valles Marineris as well as impact craters from highlands in northern Mars known under the name Arabia Terra.

Tianwen-1 also sent back high resolution imagery of the edge and a top-down look of Ascraeus Mons, an 18,000-meter (59.055-foot-high) shield volcano, which was first detected by NASA’s Mariner 9 spacecraft over five decades ago.

Ryan Woo reports. Gerry Doyle edits