Xi Jinping congratulates citizens after China lands its Zhurong rover on Mars

China on Friday said that it landed its first unmanned spacecraft on Mars becoming the only second country to the US to reach the Red Planet in a historic feat. China’s Zhurong rover touched down in Utopia Planitia around 7:11 P.M. EST as part of the Tianwen-1 mission early on May 14 using a parachute to navigate the "seven minutes of terror”, according to the China National Space Administration. China’s state-run broadcaster CCTV mission said in a broadcast that its mission "successfully landed in the pre-selected area,” confirming the touchdown. Official Xinhua news agency also confirmed the first-ever landing of China’s rocket on Mars, citing the China National Space Administration (CNSA). 

As the rocket landed on Mars, Chinese President Xi Jinping congratulated the Chinese citizens in a broadcast message saying: "You were brave enough for the challenge, pursued excellence, and placed our country in the advanced ranks of planetary exploration.” He continued, "Your outstanding achievement will forever be etched in the memories of the motherland and the people.” Official Xinhua News Agency said in an announcement, “China has left a footprint on Mars for the first time, an important step for our country's space exploration.” China’s Zhurong is named after the Chinese mythical fire god, and it arrived on the Martian surface just a few days after NASA’s Perseverance rover mission. Thus far, the US has conducted over nine successful Mars landings since 1976.

“Chinese space engineers and scientists have chosen a relatively flat region in the southern part of the Utopia Planitia, a large plain, as the potential landing zone. Earlier research showed the potential landing site might be the edge of an ancient ocean or lake in the early history of Mars. Chinese scientists are looking forward to finding more evidence of water-ice,” China National Space Administration (CNSA) said. 

[Credit: CSNA/AP]

Used aerodynamic shape for touchdown

According to China National Space Administration (CNSA), China’s first Mars exploration mission, the Tianwen-1 probe had a successful launch on July 23, 2020. It was launched on a Long March-5 rocket from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China's Hainan Province, Tianwen-1 probe entered the Martian orbit for scientific exploration and a huge amount of scientific data. As per the agency, the most challenging part of the mission was the soft landing in May, an autonomous process of the probe lasting seven to eight minutes. Last week, the remnants of Long March-5B crash-landed in the Indian Ocean with the bulk of its components destroyed upon re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere. China’s Martian probe used its aerodynamic shape, parachute, and retrorocket to decelerate and buffer legs for a touchdown, according to the CNSA

IMAGE: Twitter/ @ChinaEUMission