Second only to the U.S. in a fully successful Mars landing, China is now set to explore the Utopia Planitia region of the Red Planet’s surface.

And then there were two: today China says it safely landed a spacecraft on Mars—for the first time in its history and in its first attempt—becoming the only other nation besides the U.S. to achieve such a feat. Its Zhurong rover, named after a god of fire from Chinese folklore, successfully touched down in Utopia Planitia around 7:18 P.M. EST as part of the Tianwen-1 mission, according to the China National Space Administration. Soon the rover should drive down the ramp of its landing platform, ready to explore its unearthly surroundings. If there was any doubt about China’s spacefaring prowess, it has been dispelled now that the nation has added interplanetary landings as a coveted notch on its belt. “Mars is hard,” says Roger Launius, NASA’s former chief historian. “This is a really big deal.”...

Scientific American: China Lands Tianwen-1 Rover on Mars in a Major First for the Country