China’s Tianwen 1 Mars orbiter has returned a stunning image of the Martian moon Phobos to mark the mission’s two-year launch anniversary.
Tianwen 1 took the photo with his high-resolution camera, the same instrument used to image the mission’s Zhurong rover landing zone. At the time, the March the orbiter was 3,200 miles (5,100 kilometers) from Phoboswhich is the larger of the two moons of the red planet
Tianwen 1 needed to alter their attitude – or orientation – to image Phobos, while also having to select a precise moment during their respective orbits around Mars that would provide a relatively close approach and good lighting conditions from the sand.
Related: China’s Mars orbiter takes stunning selfies above the Red Planet
The image offers a resolution of 160 feet (50 meters) per pixel, with some of the distinct characteristics of Phobos linear grooves visible on the surface.
The image, released by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) and China Planetary Exploration (PEC) also notes the Öpik crater. The feature was named for Estonian astronomer and astrophysicist Ernst Öpik, who postulated the theory of a cloud of comets and icy objects far beyond Pluto, now known as the Öpik-Oort cloud.
Tianwen 1 spear on July 23, 2020, and has recently achieved its major scientific goals, including map the entire surface of Mars. He returned a impressive range of imagesincluding “selfies” taken by small disposable spacecraft deployed for this purpose.
The orbiter traveled to Mars with the Zhurong rover, which landed at Utopia Planitia in May 2021. The solar-powered rover is currently in hibernationbecause it is winter in the northern hemisphere of Mars.
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