NASA's orbiter captures stunning bird's eye view of Mars rover from an altitude of 288 km

The Chinese Zhurong rover has been spotted from a new and thrilling perspective thanks to NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) hovering over the red planet. The MRO, which is orbiting Mars at an altitude of approximately 288 kilometers, produced a bird's eye view of the Zhurong rover using its powerful HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) camera. According to a report by MRO handlers, the pictures shared below were captured on March 11 from a height of 288.5 kilometres. 

(Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona)

(Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona)

The first picture shows the Zhurong rover's lander on the upper right side along with the parachute and backshell in the lower portion. It is the same parachute and backshell that helped the rover slow down its descent while touching down on the red planet. The second picture, on the other hand, shows a tiny bug-like rover in the vast and barren land of the red planet. What's more, is that NASA also marked the path taken by the rover which can be spotted in both the images next to the blue coloured arrow. After landing on Mars in May 2021, the Zhurong rover has travelled roughly 1.5 kilometers from its touchdown spot. Most recently, the rover stumbled upon evidence that its current exploration site endured during long periods of weathering by wind and even water.

Zhurong rover's discovery

The location which Zhurong is exploring is called the Utopia Planitia and scientists believe that the region hosted a massive ocean billions of years ago. The reason for their belief is the presence of etchings and grooves in the area which hints towards intense wind erosion from the sand. Another evidence is the flaky texture of rocks in the area which, scientists say, only arises from interactions with water. Several wind-sculpted structures called mega ripples spanning a few metres were also found in the area by the rover. 

Joel Davis at the Natural History Museum in London had said as per New Scientist, "Hopefully, as Zhurong continues to explore, it will be able to help answer this question (about an ocean on Mars) that has been plaguing scientists for decades". 

Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona