Newly released videos show scenes from China's first mission to Mars

What's happening: One of the new videos shows Zhurong moving backward after coming off of its landing platform, which brought it down to the Martian surface.

• The administration also released videos of the rover's descent to the planet's surface in May, revealing the sounds of the rover coming in for a landing.
• "With the files we released this time, including those sounds recorded when our Mars rover left the lander, we are able to conduct in-depth analysis to the environment and condition of Mars," Liu Jizhong, deputy commander of China's first Mars exploration program, said according to a translation of an interview from CCTV.

The big picture: NASA's Perseverance rover, which landed on Mars in February, has also captured the sounds of the Red Planet hundreds of miles away from Zhurong.

• NASA administrator Bill Nelson used China's Mars landing as an example of why the U.S. needs to continue to push its capabilities in space during a congressional hearing in May.
• Yes, but: Experts have said the Chinese government doesn't see itself as being in a race with the U.S., instead it's focusing on using its space program and prowess as a form of soft power to influence others in its region.