China lands spacecraft on Mars for 1st time to advance space program
BEIJING, China — China has landed a spacecraft on Mars for the first time in the latest advance for its space program.
The official Xinhua News Agency said Saturday that the lander had touched down, citing the China National Space Administration.
Plans call for a rover to stay in the lander for a few days of diagnostic tests before rolling down a ramp to explore an icy area of Mars known as Utopia Planitia.
It will join an American one that arrived at the red planet in February.
China’s first Mars landing follows the 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.
