China is moving boldly to dominate in 21st-Century space and science from being the first nation to explore the farside of the Moon, to creating a laser that can rip spacetime asunder to landing a spacecraft six-wheeled Zhurong robot, named after the Chinese god of fire on Mars for the first time on Saturday, a technically challenging feat more difficult than a moon landing.
Utopia Planitia Landing Spot
Plans call for a rover to stay in the lander for a few days of diagnostic tests before rolling down a ramp to explore an area of Mars known as Utopia Planitia, joining an American rover that arrived at the red planet in February. Utopia Plantia harbors the largest impact basin on Mars and in the Solar System, created billions of years ago by an asteroid the size of Pluto..
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2021-05-16 02:35:59 GMT2021-05-16 10:35:59(Beijing Time) Xinhua English
WASHINGTON, May 15 (Xinhua) NASA Associate Administrator Thomas Zurbuchen on Saturday extended congratulations on the successful landing of China s Tianwen-1 spacecraft on the Mars surface. Congratulations to CNSA s #Tianwen1 team for the successful landing of China s first Mars exploration rover, #Zhurong! Together with the global science community, I look forward to the important contributions this mission will make to humanity s understanding of the Red Planet, Zurbuchen tweeted.
Earlier in the day, Tianwen-1 with China s first Mars rover Zhurong successfully touched down on the Red Planet, the first time China has landed a probe on a planet other than Earth.