China National Space Administration certainly knows how to take a selfie correctly. In 2021, new “selfies” of the Zhurong rover and Tianwen-1 lander that landed on Mars reached Earth.
The space agency has released a series of images, including what it describes as “the first complete photograph of mission orbit.” The orbiter released a camera that looks back and captures the spacecraft with Mars in the background. The image also includes the planet’s icy north pole region.
The Tianwen-1 mission has several components, including a lander, rover, and orbiter. Landing in May 2021, the rover explores Utopia Planitia, a vast plain in Mars’ northern hemisphere.
CNSA/CLEPWe have previously seen a portrait of the Tianwen-1 spacecraft en route to Mars in 2020. The new full-orbit selfie apparently was taken using the same method, with the release of a camera that takes the photos and sends the data back to the spacecraft for later return to Earth.
China’s National Space Administration has shared two more orbital images, including a closer look at the bright spacecraft and a view of the planet’s north polar glacier appearing as white swirls over a dusty red landscape.
Tianwen-1 has been a huge success for China, and the rover and orbiter continue to collect data and relay it to Earth. Spacecraft selfies give us an unusual view of an ongoing mission and highlight how the exploration of Mars has become an international effort. . .
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