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| China lands its Zhurong rover on Mars | China lands its Zhurong rover on Mars |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Artwork of the Zhurong robot: It's a daunting prospect landing on Mars | Artwork of the Zhurong robot: It's a daunting prospect landing on Mars |
| China has successfully landed a spacecraft on Mars, state media announced early on Saturday. | China has successfully landed a spacecraft on Mars, state media announced early on Saturday. |
| The six-wheeled Zhurong robot was targeting Utopia Planitia, a vast terrain in the planet's northern hemisphere. | The six-wheeled Zhurong robot was targeting Utopia Planitia, a vast terrain in the planet's northern hemisphere. |
| The vehicle used a combination of a protective capsule, a parachute and a rocket platform to make the descent. | The vehicle used a combination of a protective capsule, a parachute and a rocket platform to make the descent. |
| The successful touchdown is a remarkable achievement, given the difficult nature of the task. | The successful touchdown is a remarkable achievement, given the difficult nature of the task. |
| Only the Americans have really mastered landing on Mars until now. All other countries that have tried have either crashed or lost contact soon after reaching the surface. | |
| Chinese President Xi Jinping congratulated the mission team's "outstanding achievement" in a special message. | |
| "You were brave enough for the challenge, pursued excellence and placed our country in the advanced ranks of planetary exploration," he said. | "You were brave enough for the challenge, pursued excellence and placed our country in the advanced ranks of planetary exploration," he said. |
| The robot officially landed at 07:18 on Saturday, Beijing time (Friday 23:18 GMT), according to state media. | |
| It took 17 minutes to unfold its solar panels and send a signal back to Earth. | It took 17 minutes to unfold its solar panels and send a signal back to Earth. |
| China succeeds in putting a probe in Mars orbit | China succeeds in putting a probe in Mars orbit |
| UAE space mission returns first image of Mars | UAE space mission returns first image of Mars |
| Remarkable photo of Mars rover during landing | Remarkable photo of Mars rover during landing |
| Zhurong, which means God of Fire, was carried to Mars on the Tianwen-1 orbiter, which arrived above the planet in February. | Zhurong, which means God of Fire, was carried to Mars on the Tianwen-1 orbiter, which arrived above the planet in February. |
| The probe then spent time surveying Utopia, taking high-resolution images to pinpoint the safest place to put the rover down. | |
| The aim with all such ventures is to pick a spot that is devoid of imposing craters and where the landscape isn't covered in large boulders. | |
| This model shows Zhurong to have a similar look to Nasa's Spirit and Opportunity vehicles | This model shows Zhurong to have a similar look to Nasa's Spirit and Opportunity vehicles |
| Chinese engineers would have had to follow the landing effort with a time lag. | |
| The current distance to Mars is 320 million km, which means radio messages take almost 18 minutes to reach Earth. | The current distance to Mars is 320 million km, which means radio messages take almost 18 minutes to reach Earth. |
| Every stage of the Zhurong's approach to the surface therefore would have been managed autonomously. | |
| The landing architecture was a familiar one. | |
| The rover was encased in an aeroshell for the initial phase of the descent. This capsule's dive to the surface was slowed by pushing up against the Martian air. | |
| The heat this generated was managed by a forward-facing shield. | |
| At a predetermined time, a parachute opened to reduce the velocity still further. | |
| Finally, the Zhurong robot broke away on a rocket-powered bench for the manoeuvres that took it safely to the ground. | |
| The name's significance: Zhurong is the god of fire in ancient Chinese mythology | The name's significance: Zhurong is the god of fire in ancient Chinese mythology |
| Landing on Mars is always a daunting challenge, but China would have had confidence going into the procedure, given the great competence it has shown in its space endeavours of late. | |
| This is a nation that has been putting rovers on the Moon, and bringing lunar samples back to Earth. This month it launched the first segment of a space station above our planet. | |
| Now that Zhurong has got down successfully, scientists will try to get at least 90 Martian days of service out of it, studying the local geology. A day, or Sol, on Mars lasts 24 hours and 39 minutes. | Now that Zhurong has got down successfully, scientists will try to get at least 90 Martian days of service out of it, studying the local geology. A day, or Sol, on Mars lasts 24 hours and 39 minutes. |
| The robot looks a lot like the American space agency's (Nasa) Spirit and Opportunity vehicles from the 2000s. It weighs some 240kg and is powered by fold-out solar panels. | The robot looks a lot like the American space agency's (Nasa) Spirit and Opportunity vehicles from the 2000s. It weighs some 240kg and is powered by fold-out solar panels. |
| A tall mast carries cameras to take pictures and aid navigation; five additional instruments will help assess the mineralogy of local rocks and look for any water-ice below ground. | A tall mast carries cameras to take pictures and aid navigation; five additional instruments will help assess the mineralogy of local rocks and look for any water-ice below ground. |