China completes historic Mars spacecraft landing

An uncrewed Chinese spacecraft successfully landed on the surface of Mars on Saturday, state news agency Xinhua reported, making China the second space-faring nation after the United States to land on the Red Planet. The Tianwen-1 spacecraft landed on a site on a vast plain known as Utopia Planitia, "Leaving a Chinese footprint on Mars for the first time," Xinhua said. The landing module separated from the orbiter three hours later and entered the Martian atmosphere, the official China Space News said. The official landing time was 2318 GMT, Xinhua said, citing the China National Space Administration. The rover, named Zhurong, will now survey the landing site before departing from its platform to conduct inspections. If Zhurong is successfully deployed, China would be the first country to orbit, land and release a rover in its maiden mission to Mars. A Mars probe launched by the former Soviet Union landed in December 1971, but communication was lost seconds after landing.