Photo: CNSA

 

Photo: CNSA

Photo: CNSA

China’s first Mars probe Tianwen-1, which arrived in the Martian parking orbit on February 26 and is currently orbiting the planet, has sent back a group of new high definition images of the Earth’s planetary neighbor. China National Space Administration (CNSA) shared the visuals with the Global Times on Thursday.

The amazing pictures of the Red Planet by Tianwen-1 include two panchromatic images and one color image, CNSA said in a statement it provided to the Global Times.

Those panchromatic images, which appear to be black and white, were taken by the Chinese craft’s high-definition camera as it flew somewhere between 330-350 kilometers above the Mars surface. 

From these images with a resolution of around 0.7 meters, the crater, ridges and dunes of the planet can clearly be seen. CNSA estimated that the largest crater in the image could be some 620 meters in diameter.

The color image is taken by Tianwen-1’s color camera, and is a capture of the north polar region of the Mars.

CPPCC member and CASC official Bao Weimin said Thursday that China’s first Mars mission—Tianwen-1—will land on the Red Planet sometime between May-June this year. 

The currently-orbiting probe is investigating the potential landing site on the largest plain of the Red Planet, known as Utopia Planitia ,Bao said.