China’s Zhurong rover has touched down on Mars

China’s probe to Mars touched down on the Red Planet Saturday to deploy its Zhurong rover, state media reported, a triumph for Beijing’s bold space ambitions and a history-making feat for a nation on its first-ever Martian mission.

The lander carrying Zhurong completed the treacherous descent through the Martian atmosphere using a parachute to navigate the “seven minutes of terror” as it is known, aiming for a vast northern lava plain known as the Utopia Planitia.

It “successfully landed in the pre-selected area”, state broadcaster CCTV said in a special television programme dedicated to the mission called “Nihao Mars” (“Hello Mars”).

The official Xinhua news agency cited the China National Space Administration (CNSA) in confirming the touchdown.