Looking for signs of life on the red planet
China probe takes its first steps on the surface of Mars
China finally released the first photos taken by the vehicle.
Reuters
A Chinese remote-controlled probe detached from a landing capsule and descended on Mars, making China the first country to finish orbiting the red planet and land and roam on its surface on its first mission to explore the red planet.
The Churong rover, named after the Chinese god of fire in ancient Chinese mythology, landed on Mars yesterday morning.
China this month became the second country after the United States to send a vehicle to land on Mars, when it succeeded in sending the unmanned spacecraft Tiananne-1 carrying the Chorong mobile probe.
The former Soviet Union sent a spacecraft that landed on Mars in 1971, but seconds later lost contact with it.
On May 15, the Chinese capsule carrying the probe detached from the Tianan-1 spacecraft and landed in a vast plain known as Utopia Planetia.
And last Wednesday, the Chinese Space Agency published the first pictures taken by the spacecraft.
The rover will study the planet's surface soil and climate, looking for evidence of life.
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