Issue 2

Contributions to the Nation's first Mars mission with the Mars Camera

Professor KL Yung, Sir Sze-yuen Chung Professor in Precision Engineering, Chair Professor of Precision Engineering and Associate Head of the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, developed a sophisticated space instrument, the "Mars Landing Surveillance Camera (Mars Camera)", for capturing images of the surroundings of the Red Planet and monitoring the status of the Zhurong Mars rover. Professor Yung has led his team in undertaking the research, design and manufacturing of the Mars Camera since 2017.

The PolyU-developed Mars Camera is located on the outside top surface of the lander platform, for monitoring the landing status, the surrounding environment of Mars and the movements of the Zhurong rover with respect to the unfolding and status of the solar panels and antennae. This information is critical for the successful movement of the Mars rover on the surface of Mars.

Professor Yung (third from the left) attending the press briefing on PolyU's contribution to the Nation's first Mars exploration project Tianwen-1