Chinese succeed in Mars mission
CHINA landed a spacecraft on Mars yesterday – becoming only the second country after the US to carry out such a feat.
Its Zhurong rover vehicle will 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.
An American rover vehicle landed on the red planet in February.
China’s Mars landing follows its launch last month of the main section of what will be a permanent space station, and a mission that brought
back rocks from the moon last year.
The Xinhua News Agency said: “China has left a footprint on Mars for the first time – an important step for our country’s space exploration.”
The US has staged nine successful landings on Mars since 1976.