In major milestone, China successfully lands Zhurong rover on Mars By William Harwood
May 14, 2021 / 9:30 PM / CBS News
China s Zhurong Mars rover, mounted atop a rocket-powered lander, dropped away from its orbiting Tianwen-1 mothership Friday and descended to touchdown on the red planet, official news agencies confirmed, a superpower feat that highlights the growing prowess of the Chinese space program.
The China National Space Administration confirmed Zhurong, named after the god of fire in Chinese mythology, landed on a broad plain known as Utopia Planitia Friday at 7:18 p.m. EDT (7:18 a.m. Saturday Beijing time) after a fiery plunge through the thin martian atmosphere.
Ingenuity helicopter poised for maiden flight on Mars By William Harwood NASA s Mars helicopter prepares for flight
After troubleshooting a software glitch, NASA s $80 million Ingenuity helicopter will attempt its first controlled, powered flight in the ultra-thin atmosphere of Mars early Monday that could be a Wright brothers moment paving the way to future interplanetary aircraft.
Tipping the scales at just 4 pounds 1.5 pounds in the lower gravity of Mars Ingenuity s counter-rotating 4-foot-long rotors, spinning at 2,400 revolutions per minute, will be commanded to change their pitch, biting deeper into the thin atmosphere for a liftoff from the floor of Jezero Crater at 3:31 a.m. ET.