Planet Mars: A Cloudy Tempe Terra | China's Tianwen-1 Mars Orbiter

Planet Mars: A Cloudy Tempe Terra | China's Tianwen-1 Mars Orbiter

These images were captured by the China National Space Administration's Tianwen-1 Mars spacecraft that has been orbiting and operating at Mars since February 2021. This robotic probe originally contained six elements: an orbiter, two deployable cameras, a lander, a remote camera, and the Zhurong rover. The spacecraft, with a total mass of nearly five tons, was one of the heaviest probes launched to Mars and carried 14 scientific instruments. China is the second country after the United States to make a successful soft landing and to establish communication from the Martian surface. This is the first in a series of planned interplanetary missions undertaken by CNSA as part of China's planetary exploration program. 

Martian clouds are made of either water ice or, at higher altitudes and lower temperatures, carbon dioxide ice. Mars’ atmosphere is more than 95% carbon dioxide. Tempe Terra is a heavily cratered highland region in the northern hemisphere of the planet Mars. It is located at the northeastern edge of the Tharsis volcanic region. It is notable for its high degree of crustal fracturing and deformation. The region also contains many small shield volcanoes, lava flows, and other volcanic structures. In September 2021, a meteoroid struck the side of a depression created by faults in Tempe Terra, leaving behind an impact crater roughly 427 feet (130 meters) across. The region displays a complex geological history and covers the transition zone between the old Martian highlands to the south and the geologically younger northern lowlands.

Mission: CNSA Tianwen 1
Camera: MoRIC
Time: 2022-04-01T01:54:10.590000Z
Longitude: -80.010264
Latitude: 46.735975
Altitude: 678 km
Image created using data processed from: moon.bao.ac.cn

Image Credit: CNSA/CLEP/PEC/MoRIC
Image Processing: Andrea Luck
Release Date: April 16, 2025

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