The China National Space Administration's Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center said China's Mars rover Zhurong has gone more than 800 meters on the red planet's surface.

Xinhua said Zhurong was crossing a challenging terrain of rocks, craters, and dunes when its rear hazard-avoidance camera recorded an image of the rover just traveling across the rocks.

The rover has been working on Mars' surface for 82 Martian days, and the orbiter has been in orbit for 379 days as of August 6, 2021. Both are in good working order and are in good shape.

A day on Mars lasts about 40 minutes longer than a day on Earth.

Happy Anniversary!

Zhurong also visited the second wind-formed dune on its first anniversary of China's Tianwen-1 Mars mission, CNSA said.

According to the update posted on WeChat, the rover analyzed the formation using its surface composition detectors, multi-spectral cameras, and other research instruments.

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Zhurong arrived on Mars in May and rolled onto the surface a week later, making China the second country after the US to land and operate a rover on the red planet. The rover's first accomplishment was moving away from the lander, dropping a small, remote camera, and then returning to take an epic selfie with the lander.

Later updates featured stunning roaming imagery and noises recorded by the rover's climate station.

About China's Mission

Since then, the solar-powered rover has been moving south of the landing site. Zhurong's excursions up to July 21, comprising 66 Mars days, or sols, were charted by the CNSA. The trip has been tracked by Zhurong's parent orbiter, Tianwen-1, and NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

Space.com said Tianwen-1 orbits Mars every 8 hours, in an orbit that passes over Zhurong once per Martian day, allowing the orbiter to transfer data from the rover to Earth. In February, Tianwen-1 began orbiting Mars, arriving only hours after the United Arab Emirates' Hope orbiter and a week before NASA's Perseverance rover.

The rover's primary mission is set to span 90 sols, and China has not indicated whether Zhurong would continue after that. Despite having an intended lifetime of only three lunar days, or three Earth months, China's Yutu 2 rover on the far side of the moon has been operational for more than 30 lunar days after landing.

Because Mars is roughly 235 million miles (378 million kilometers) distant from Earth, transmitting data or orders takes 21 minutes one trip.

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