16
An unmanned Chinese spacecraft has obtained image data covering the entire planet Mars, including images of its south pole, after orbiting the planet more than 1,300 times since early last year, state media reported on Wednesday.
The Tianwen-1 spacecraft successfully reached the Red Planet in February 2021, in the first spaceflight of China. A robotic vehicle was lowered onto the planet’s surface while an orbiter monitored it from space.
Among the images taken from space are China’s first images of the south pole of Mars, where nearly all of the planet’s water resources are concentrated.
In 2018, a European Space Agency probe discovered water under the ice at the planet’s south pole.