China's Space Rise... Unmanned Probe Tianwen 1 Successfully Lands on Mars (Comprehensive)

▲Surface photo of Mars taken by China's unmanned probe Tianwen-1 [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] China's first Mars unmanned probe, 'Tianwen-1,' has successfully landed on Mars after a journey of over 10 months.

On the 15th, Xinhua News Agency reported that Tianwen-1 successfully landed on the Utopia Planitia of Mars that morning.

The agency stated, "China has left its mark on Mars for the first time, which is an important step in China's planetary exploration," adding, "The Mars exploration rover will conduct mobile exploration at the landing site."

Utopia Planitia is the site where NASA's Viking 2 landed in 1976. At that time, Viking 2 discovered traces of life on Utopia Planitia.

Launched on July 23 last year, Tianwen-1 entered Mars orbit in February after about seven months of flight and has been collecting data while orbiting.

Earlier, the U.S. exploration rover 'Perseverance' landed on Mars in February and began its mission to search for signs of life.

Since the Soviet Union sent the world's first Mars probe in October 1960 until the launch of Tianwen-1, there have been 45 Mars exploration attempts worldwide, but only 17 missions have been successfully completed. So far, only the United States and the Soviet Union have succeeded in landing on Mars.

China attempted to launch a Mars probe with Russia in 2011, but it failed after not escaping Earth's orbit.

However, with Tianwen-1's landing on Mars, China has demonstrated space technology capabilities on par with the United States to the world.

Tianwen-1 consists of an orbiter, a lander, and an exploration rover.

Among them, the exploration rover 'Zhurong' is a solar-powered exploration robot with six wheels. Zhurong is 1.85 meters tall and weighs 240 kilograms, named after the first 'God of Fire' from ancient Chinese mythology. If it operates properly, it will carry out a three-month mission exploring the Martian surface.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.