Four days after China landed a spacecraft on Mars; it has released the first photographs and videos of the Red Planet captured by its Mars Probe. What Happened : The first photograph, a black and white image, was taken by an obstacle avoidance camera installed in front of the Mars rover, the China National Space Administration said in a statement on its website. The image shows a ramp on the lander that has been extended to the planet’s surface. The terrain in front of the rover is clearly visible in the image, while the horizon appears curved because of the camera’s wide-angle lens.
A video taken by a camera on the orbiter, showing how the lander and the rover separated from the orbiter during landing, was also sent.
The Impact: It is highly likely that the informative pictures and videos captured by the Mars rover could elevate public relations for President Xi Jinping’s government, which will be especially favorable following the crash of debris from a Chinese rocket in early May that made people across the world skeptical of the Chinese space program.