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Associated Press

China’s first Mars rover has driven down from its landing platform and is roaming the surface of the red planet, China’s space administration said on Saturday.
The solar-powered rover touched Martian soil at 10.40am on Saturday, the China National Space Administration said.
China landed the spacecraft carrying the Zhu Rong rover on Mars last Saturday, a feat more difficult than a moon landing, in a first for the country.
Named after the Chinese god of fire, the rover ran diagnostics tests for several days before it began its exploration on Saturday. It is expected to be deployed for 90 days to search of evidence of life.

The US also has an ongoing Mars mission, with the Perseverance rover and a tiny helicopter exploring the planet. Nasa expects the rover to collect its first sample in July for return to Earth in a decade.
China has ambitious space plans that include launching a crewed orbital station and landing a human on the moon.
In 2019, China became the first country to land a space probe on the little-explored far side of the moon, and in December returned lunar rocks to Earth for the first time since the 1970s.




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China's space programme

China’s Zhu Rong Mars rover off and roaming on red planet

The Zhu Rong rover has rolled down the landing vehicle ramp and is exploring the red planet. Photo: CNS/CNSA

FILE PHOTO: An image taken on Mars by Chinese rover Zhurong of China's Tianwen-1 mission is seen in this handout image released by the China National Space Administration (CNSA), May 19, 2021. CNSA/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES./File Photo

China’s Mars mission: Hong Kong scientists behind Zhu Rong landing demand more government support for aerospace research

A simulated image shows the Mars landing of a China rover. Photo: Xinhua

PolyU Professor Yung  Kai-leung at a press conference on PolyUâs contribution to PRCâs  first Mars mission with multidisciplinary research.21MAY21 SCMP / Xiaomei Chen

A Mars Landing Surveillance Camera developed and produced by PolyU displayed at a press conference on PolyUâs contribution to PRCâs  first Mars mission with multidisciplinary research.21MAY21 SCMP / Xiaomei Chen

Touchdown for China’s Mars rover Zhu Rong after ‘nine minutes of terror’

An artist’s impression of the Zhu Rong Mars rover, which landed on the red planet on Saturday. Photo: Weibo

What is China’s Tianwen-1 Mars mission?

The Tianwen-1 Mars probe lifts off from the Wenchang Space Launch Centre in Hainan province on July 23 last year. Photo: Xinhua

Fungi on Mars? Researchers claim signs of life on red planet

Martian soil contains very little organic matter for fungi to grow, according to researcher Jonathan Clarke. Photo: Nasa/JPL-Caltech/Handout via Reuters

News

China

Science


A week after touching down, solar-powered device begins 90-day search for signs of life
Technically challenging quest is a first for the country



A week after touching down, solar-powered device begins 90-day search for signs of life.


China’s Zhu Rong Mars rover off and roaming on red planet

A week after touching down, solar-powered device begins 90-day search for signs of life Technically challenging quest is a first for the country

A week after touching down, solar-powered device begins 90-day search for signs of life

Technically challenging quest is a first for the country