The first Chinese rover was named “Zhurong” – in honor of the god of fire in ancient Chinese mythology, according to the National Space Administration of the People's Republic of China, CCTV reports.
The name of the first Chinese rover was announced at the opening ceremony for Chinese Astronautics Day. It was held on April 24 in the city of Nanjing, Jiangsu province.
Zhzhong is the earliest fire god. The name of the rover symbolizes that it will “light the fire of space exploration” in China and send people to continue the exploration of “the endless starry sky and the unknown universe.”
The Zhuzhong rover, which is 185 cm high and weighs about 240 kg, will conduct research on the surface composition and geological structure of Mars, as well as the meteorological situation on the planet. The service life is calculated for approximately three months.
Last July, China launched its first Mars probe, Tianwen 1 (Questions to Heaven), using the country's largest launch vehicle, the Long March 5.
Its name refers to a poem by the Chinese poet Qu Yuan (340–278 BC). In February, he flew to the planet.
The head of China's lunar program, Ouyang Ziyuan, said that the main task of the probe would be to detect possible signs of life on the planet.
