When it comes to serious space plans, there are really only two governments in this space — the US and China. American’s efforts are fairly well-chronicled, and it’s only recently that China’s been trying to get its name out there. Just lately, it was the country’s five-year plan for space exploration. Now, it’s something a little more visual. The Tianwen-1 Mars orbiter has sent back some video of its trip around the red planet.
Tianwen-1 of these days
Another surprise from China’s Tianwen-1 Mars spacecraft, this time to celebrate Chinese New Year, with a video taken using a selfie stick. CNSA/PEC https://t.co/Fqm6JMUPDX pic.twitter.com/Co7Zjvq0Uk
— Andrew Jones (@AJ_FI) January 31, 2022
The video was shot by the orbiter itself. It turns out, the craft had a selfie stick tucked away somewhere. This was unfurled and used to capture part of the orbiter’s trip around Mars. The Chinese government released the video as a way to mark the Chinese New Year. The Year of the Tiger officially kicks off today, 1 February. We suppose celebrating a lunar occasion with a Martian video makes sense, of a sort.
In addition to seeing parts of the Mars surface as it creeps by underneath Tianwen-1, it’s also a great video of the orbiter itself. Its solar panels, main body, and engine are all visible at various points in the video embedded about. It’s not every day we get to see a spacecraft roaming around another world.
China’s increased marketing push for its space exploration program is often treated like propaganda. In some ways, that’s exactly what it is. But videos like these, and recent footage from the Zhurong rover on the Martian surface, remain interesting, no matter what their purpose.