China's first Mars exploration mission achieves rich scientific results

BEIJING, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- China's first Mars exploration mission has achieved rich scientific results, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) said Sunday.

As of Thursday, the Tianwen-1 orbiter has been operating normally for over 780 days, and the rover Zhurong has traveled 1,921 meters on the surface of Mars, the CNSA said.

The orbiter and rover of China's Tianwen-1 probe have completed the targeted scientific exploration missions and have acquired 1,480 gigabytes of raw scientific data.

The Tianwen-1 probe consists of an orbiter, a lander, and a rover. On May 15, 2021, it touched down at its pre-selected landing area in Utopia Planitia, a vast Martian plain, marking the first time China has landed a probe on the planet.