Zhurong was sent to Mars as part of China’s Tianwen-1 mission and landed on the surface after nearly a year’s trip on 15 May 2021.
The rover was sent to a large plain in the northern hemisphere of Mars named Utopia Planitia, near the boundary between the lowlands where it landed and highlands to the south.
The region was chosen because it’s near suspected ancient shorelines and other interesting surface features, where the rover could look for evidence of water or ice.
A large body of underground ice was identified in a nearby part of Utopia Planitia in 2016 by radar from Nasa’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
After landing, Zhurong travelled about 1.9km south, taking pictures of rocks, sand dunes, and impact craters, and collecting data along the way.
Ground-penetrating radar detects features underground by sending electromagnetic pulses into the ground that are reflected back by any subsurface structures it passes over.
The rover uses two radar frequencies...