The Chinese Tianwen-1 probe with the Zhorung rover on board landed on Mars from Friday to Saturday, the Xinhua news agency reported. This is the first Chinese unmanned mission to the Red Planet, and the second after the United States to land on Mars.
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The Tianwen-1 probe set off from the Wenchang spaceport on the island of Hainan on July 23, 2020, and in February after traveling 475 million kilometers, it entered Mars orbit. The Chinese probe successfully landed in a planned location on Mars, the Xinhua news agency reported on Friday night.
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The Xinhua news agency reported that the rover had landed on the Utopia Plain in the northern circumpolar region and “left its first marks on Mars.”
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Reuters reported that the rover called Zhurong would first investigate the landing site before exiting the platform.
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The Chinese rover has landed on Marsweather
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Historical mission
The Tianwen-1 mission is considered an example of Beijing’s growing space ambitions. China has also recently launched a key element of its own space station into orbit and is planning to build a research station on the moon together with Russia.
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The Zhurong rover, named after the god of fire from ancient Chinese mythology, has a solar drive, six wheels, 1.85 meters high and weighs 240 kilograms. It is to travel the Red Planet for about three months, collecting and analyzing rock samples. It can move at a speed of 200 meters per hour.
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The AFP agency recalled that in the past several attempts to land on Mars by the US, Russia and European countries have failed. The previous successful attempt took place in February, when the US space agency NASA placed a rover on the surface of this planet Perseverance.
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photo-source">Main photo source: weather
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