China's Mars rover Zhurong. /China Media Group
China's Zhurong rover has started traversing a complex terrain area on Mars with rocks, impact craters and sand dunes, according to the China National Space Administration (CNSA).
As of Friday, Zhurong has been working on the Martian surface for 75 Martian days, traveling a total of 708 meters, the CNSA said.
A Martian day is approximately 40 minutes longer than a day on Earth.
Last week, the rover traveled to a dune and conducted scientific detection there. After completing the exploration of the topography, it will continue to move southwards and is expected to reach a complex terrain this week with rocks, impact craters and dunes densely distributed.
An image of the complex terrain taken by Zhurong. /CNSA
The ground crew will use the daily images of the navigation terrain they've got to complete the rover's visual positioning and route planning, and steer the rover to safely traverse the complex terrain.
When it meets a scientific target, the rover will conduct probe with the scientific payloads it carries, and obtain scientific data during the journey.
The Chinese orbiter which serves as a relay satellite communication satellite for the country's current Tianwen-1 Mars mission. /China Media Group
The orbiter, which serves as a relay satellite communication satellite for the Mars mission, has been working in orbit for 372 days.
The rover and the orbiter are both in good condition, with each subsystem in normal operation.
China's Tianwen-1 mission, consisting of an orbiter, a lander, and a rover, was launched on July 23, 2020. The lander carrying the rover landed in the southern part of Utopia Planitia, a vast plain on the northern hemisphere of Mars, on May 15 this year.