China lands on Mars in latest advance for its space program

[left-of-center2012]

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 its 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 late last year.

The US has had nine successful landings on Mars since 1976. A rover and a tiny helicopter from the American landing in February are currently exploring Mars. NASA expects the rover to collect its first sample in July for return to Earth in a decade.

The Soviet Union landed on the planet in 1971, but the mission failed after the craft stopped transmitting information soon after touchdown.

https://www.arabnews.com/node/1858936/world

[Sneederbunk]

1. This planet is not big enough for both of us.

Time for China to get out of town.

[Irish_Dem]

3. I'm waiting for China to declare Mars a new Chinese province.

Just a matter of time.

[ansible]

2. Wonderful, now Mars is contaminated with earth microbes for sure now

[exboyfil]

4. By the time we are ready to seriously study the Martian biosphere

if one actually does exist, our own microbes would have eaten their way through it.


So when we do find life that shows a common origin to life on Earth, will it be from age old panspermia or highly mutated recent arrivals.

[clutterbox1830]

5. Congrats to them.

Seriously.

Landing on object on another planet is a huge accomplishment. I don't care who does it. It advances space and science technology in general.

[Shanti Shanti Shanti]

6. Yes, a huge engineering success even to land, and it has a deep subsurface penetrating radar

Down to 100 meters, looking for permafrost, ice.

[aka-chmeee]

7. I would be more impressed...

if they had started with a bucket of 1970 electronics, no internet or stolen data and managed the feat. Waste of #1000 but what the hell.