BEIJING, May 22 (Xinhua) China first Mars rover, Zhurong, drove down from its landing platform to the Martian surface Saturday, leaving the country first foo
China s first Mars rover steps out to explore red planet
China s Tianwen-1 mission, consisting of an orbiter, a lander and a rover, was launched on July 23, 2020.
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In this artist s rendering made available by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) on Saturday, May 22, 2021, China s Zhurong rover is depicted on the surface of Mars. (Photo | AP) By PTI
BEIJING: China s first Mars rover on Saturday drove down from its landing platform to the Martian surface to start exploring the surface of the red planet.
The six-wheeled solar-powered rover named Zhurong, resembling a blue butterfly and with a mass of 240 kg, slowly trundled off a ramp on the lander to hit the red, sandy soil of Mars, starting its journey to explore the fourth planet from the Sun, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) said.
A remote-controlled Chinese motorised rover drove down the ramp of its landing capsule on Saturday and on to the surface of Mars, making China the first nation to orbit, land and deploy a land vehicle on its inaugural mission to the red planet.
Zhurong, named after a mythical Chinese god of fire, drove down to the surface of Mars at 10.40am Beijing time (2.40am GMT), according to the roverâs official Chinese social media account.
China this month joined the United States as the only nations to deploy land vehicles on Mars. The former Soviet Union landed a craft in 1971, but it lost communication seconds later.
BEIJING, May 22 (Xinhua): China s first Mars rover, Zhurong, drove down from its landing platform to the Martian surface on Saturday, leaving the country s first footprints on the red planet.
Zhurong s first successful drive made China the second country after the United States to land and operate a rover on Mars.
The six-wheeled solar-powered rover, resembling a blue butterfly and with a mass of 240 kg, slowly trundled off a ramp on the lander to hit the red, sandy soil of Mars, starting its journey to explore the fourth planet from the sun.
According to the telemetry data, Zhurong set its wheels on Martian soil at 10:40 a.m. (Beijing Time) on Saturday, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) said.