NASA Administrator Bill Nelson issued a statement on May 19 local time, congratulating the Chinese Mars lander Zhurong for sending back the first Mars images.
In a statement posted on NASA's official website, Nelson said, "Congratulations to the Chinese National Space Administration for receiving their first images from the Zhurong Mars lander!"

He said that as the international scientific community reaches Mars with a growing fleet of robotic rovers, the U.S. and the world look forward to new discoveries from Zhurong that will advance human understanding of Mars.

Nelson said he looks forward to future international discoveries that will help understand and develop the capabilities needed for humans to set foot on Mars.