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A Chinese spacecraft successfully has landed on Mars, safely getting through its own “seven minutes of terror” and completing a technically challenging descent.
Its space agency is now only the second ever to make it through a landing on the red planet, and it serves as a major breakthrough in the country’s ambitions for space exploration.
The Zhurong robot – which features six wheels and a variety of scientific instruments for scouring the Martian surface – was carried to the planet by its Tianwen-1 orbiter. That had arrived at the planet in February, and has spent the time since surveying the planet to find the safest landing location for the rover and orbiter.
China lands Zhurong rover on Mars in latest advance for its space program
China lands Zhurong rover on Mars in latest advance for its space program
With the successful landing of Zhurong rover on Mars, China become only the third country to land a rover on another planet after the United States and Russia.
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UPDATED: May 15, 2021 08:29 IST
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 icy area of Mars known as Utopia Planitia. (Photo: CNSA)
China has landed a spacecraft on Mars for the first time in the latest advance for its space program.
Ken Moritsugu
In this photo released by China s Xinhua News Agency, technicians work at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center in Beijing, Saturday, May 15, 2021. China landed a spacecraft on Mars for the first time on Saturday, a technically challenging feat more difficult than a moon landing, in the latest advance for its ambitious goals in space. (Jin Liwang/Xinhua via AP) May 15, 2021 - 2:31 AM
BEIJING (AP) â China landed a spacecraft on Mars for the first time on Saturday, a technically challenging feat more difficult than a moon landing, in the latest step forward for its ambitious goals in space.
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. It will join an American rover that arrived at the red planet in February.
China lands on Mars
Beijing, May 15 (UNI) China on Saturday successfully landed a spacecraft on Mars, state media announced quoting China National Space Administration (CNSA).
The rover Tianwen-1 touched down at its pre-selected landing area in the southern part of Utopia Planitia, a vast plain on the northern hemisphere of Mars, at 7:18 a.m. (Beijing Time), the CNSA announced.
It took ground controllers more than an hour to establish the success of the pre-programmed landing. They had to wait for the rover to autonomously unfold its solar panels and antenna to send the signals after landing, and there was a time delay of more than 17 minutes due to the 320-million-km distance between Earth and Mars.
A visitor to an exhibition on China s space program looks at a life size model of the Chinese Mars rover Zhurong, named after the Chinese god of fire, at the National Museum in Beijing on May 6. Photo: AP world
Chinese spacecraft lands on Mars in latest advance for its space program May 15 02:10 pm JST May 15 | 02:17 pm JST BEIJING
China landed a spacecraft on Mars for the first time on Saturday in the latest advance for its space program, state media said.
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 icy area of Mars known as Utopia Planitia. It will join an American rover that arrived at the red planet in February.