China Lands Spacecraft on Mars
Voice of America
BEIJING - 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 spacecraft that arrived at the red planet in February.
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This March 3, 2025, image courtesy of Intuitive Machines, LLC shows the company's IM-2 mission Nova-C class lunar lander, Athena, in circular orbit around the moon.
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Staff at the Mission Control outside Austin, Texas celebrating as lunar lander Blue Ghost touches down on the moon with a special delivery for NASA, March 2, 2025. (NASA/Firefly Aerospace via AP) Private lunar lander Blue Ghost after touching down on the moon with a special delivery for NASA, March 2, 2025. (NASA/Firefly Aerospace via AP)
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Staff at the Mission Control outside Austin, Texas celebrating as lunar lander Blue Ghost touches down on the moon with a special delivery for NASA, March 2, 2025. (NASA/Firefly Aerospace via AP) Private lunar lander Blue Ghost after touching down on the moon with a special delivery for NASA, March 2, 2025. (NASA/Firefly Aerospace via AP)
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The moon passes by Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost Mission 1 spaceship on Feb. 24, 2025, in this image taken from a video. The craft is expected to land on the moon on March 2, 2025. (Firefly Aerospace on X via Reuters) Intuitive Machines' Athena lander, atop a SpaceX rocket, lifts off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Feb. 26, 2025. Athena is expected to land on the moon on March 6, 2025.