BLUF

China has successfully achieved their first landing on Mars.

Summary

China's spacecraft 'Tianwen-1' has been orbiting Mars since February after its six-month journey from Earth. China's official News Agency, Xinhua, said:

'the riskiest phase of the whole mission was when the entry capsule entered the Mars atmosphere. The capsule then deployed a parachute, and then a retro-rocket was fired to slow the craft's speed to almost zero before touching down.'

Xinhua also noted that,

'China has left its footprint on Mars for the first time, an important step for our country's space exploration.'

The capsule contained a Rover vehicle equipped with sensors, lasers and ground-penetrating radar which is expected to be deployed for 90 days. It will search for evidence of life and study Mar's atmosphere. China's latest launch was of the main section of a permanent space station. This recent launch was the first of 11 planned missions to build and provision China's space station by the end of next year.

Learn more about China’s space mission to Mars.

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