Nasa reveals birds-eye image of Mars with a mind-blowing secret hidden inside

THIS is no ordinary photo of Mars.

The birds-eye view shared by a Nasa satellite features a rare cameo from one of the planet’s only residents.

NasaChina’s Mars rover is easy to miss in this satellite snap of the Martian surface[/caption]

China’s Zhurong rover is visible as a small, purple dot nestled between wind-swept dunes.

The car-sized robot landed on the Red Planet in May 2021 and is one of three stationed there alongside Nasa’s Curiosity and Perseverance rovers.

Early on in its mission, Nasa’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) spotted Zhurong and its landing craft from above.

The satellite has now shared its latest snap of the contraption complete with the long and winding tracks it’s left in its wake.

The image was snapped on March 11 by the MRO’s High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera.

The lander and backshell of the spacecraft are also visible in the composite, which captures the rover’s entire trip across the surface.

“This HiRISE image shows how far the rover has travelled in the 10 months since it landed,” the HiRISE team wrote in a blog post.

“In fact, its exact path can be traced from the wheel tracks left on the surface.”

HiRISE takes pictures that cover vast areas of Martian terrain while being able to pick out features as small as a kitchen table.

It’s helping Nasa to better understand the evolution of the planet’s surface.

The team that operates the powerful instrument is based at the University of Arizona.

They’ll continue to analyse images of Zhurong – as well as Mars itself – as the rover continues its journey across the surface.

The rover, which is named after a Chinese mythical fire god, is studying the planet’s surface soil and atmosphere.

As well as examing the geology of the planet, the machine is looking for signs of microscopic life – past and present.

NasaZhurgon’s journey since arriving on the Red Planet can be seen by the tracks it has left in the Martian dusted, which are highlighted with blue arrows above[/caption]

NasaThe image was put together using data from the MRO’s High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) instrument, pictured here in a Nasa lab ahead of the orbiter’s launch[/caption]

Read all the latest Phones & Gadgets newsKeep up-to-date on Apple storiesGet the latest on Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram

We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online Tech & Science team? Email us at tech@the-sun.co.uk