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The Chinese Tianwen-1 vessel had successfully landed on the surface of Mars on May 15th, state news agency Xinhua reported. China became the second space-faring nation after the United States to land on the Red Planet.
The uncrewed spacecraft landed in an an icy vast plain known as Utopia Planitia, located about 1,200 miles away from landing site of U.S. Perseverance rover. A Chinese footprint was left on Mars for the first time.
The craft had left its parked orbit, three hours later the landing module had separated from the orbiter and entered the Martian atmosphere, the official China Space News said. It claimed the landing process to be “nine minutes of terror”.
