Technical personnel celebrate after China's Tianwen 1 probe successfully landed on Mars at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center in Beijing, capital of China, May 15, 2021. (JIN LIWANG/XINHUA)
BEIJING – Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday extended congratulations on the successful landing of China's first probe on Mars.
On behalf of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, the State Council and the Central Military Commission (CMC), Xi, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the CMC, extended warm congratulations and sincere greetings to all members who have participated in the Mars exploration mission, Tianwen 1, in a congratulatory message.
President Xi said the landing marks an important step in China's interstellar exploration and a leap from the exploration of the Earth-Moon system to interplanetary exploration
The Tianwen 1 probe touched down at its pre-selected landing area in the southern part of Utopia Planitia, a vast plain on the northern hemisphere of Mars, at 7:18 am Saturday (Beijing Time), the China National Space Administration said.
It is the first time China has landed a probe on a planet other than Earth.
Xi said in the message that the landing marks an important step in China's interstellar exploration and a leap from the exploration of the Earth-Moon system to interplanetary exploration.
"The landing left a Chinese mark on Mars for the first time. It is another landmark progress in China's space industry development," said Xi.
"Thanks to your courage in face of challenges and pursuit of excellence, China is now among the leading countries in planetary exploration," Xi said in the message. "The country and people will always remember your outstanding achievements."
Xi stressed organizing and implementing the roving and scientific exploration on Mars carefully, adhering to the self-reliance in sci-tech development, and pushing forward major space projects including planetary exploration.
It is the first time China has landed a probe on a planet other than Earth
He also called for boosting China's strength in space technology and making new and greater contributions to exploring the mysteries of the universe and promoting the noble cause of peace and development of humanity.
Vice-Premier Han Zheng, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, witnessed the landing at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center.
Vice-Premier Liu He, also a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, read out the congratulatory message.
It took ground controllers more than an hour to establish the success of the pre-programmed landing. They had to wait for the rover to autonomously unfold its solar panels and antenna to send the signals after landing, and there was a time delay of more than 17 minutes due to the 320-million-km distance between Earth and Mars.
The graphic simulated image taken on May 15, 2021 shows China's probe landing on Mars. (JIN LIWANG/XINHUA)
"The Mars exploration mission has been a total success," Zhang Kejian, head of the CNSA, announced at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center.
After the success was confirmed, the control center in Beijing was filled with cheers and applause.
"It's another important milestone for China's space exploration," he said.
Tianwen 1, consisting of an orbiter, a lander and a rover, was launched from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site on the coast of southern China's island province of Hainan on July 23, 2020. It was the first step in China's planetary exploration of the solar system, with the aim of completing orbiting, landing and roving on the red planet in one mission.
The name Tianwen, meaning Questions to Heaven, comes from a poem written by the ancient Chinese poet Qu Yuan (about 340-278 BC). China's first Mars rover is named Zhurong after the god of fire in ancient Chinese mythology, which echoes with the Chinese name of the red planet: Huoxing (the planet of fire).
READ MORE: China releases video of Tianwen 1's entry into Mars orbit
The spacecraft entered the Mars orbit in February after a journey of nearly seven months through space, and spent more than two months surveying potential landing sites.
Technical personnel work at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center in Beijing, capital of China, May 15, 2021. (JIN LIWANG/XINHUA)
In the early hours of Saturday, the spacecraft began to descend from its parking orbit, and the entry capsule enclosing the lander and rover separated from the orbiter at about 4 am.
After flying for approximately three hours, the entry capsule hurtled toward the red planet and entered the Mars atmosphere at an altitude of 125 km, initiating the riskiest phase of the whole mission.
Each step had only one chance, and the actions were closely linked. If there had been any flaw, the landing would have failed.
Geng Yan, official at the Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center of the CNSA
First, the specially designed aerodynamic shape of the entry capsule decelerated with the friction of the Martian atmosphere. When the velocity of the spacecraft was lowered from 4.8 km per second to about 460 meters per second, a huge parachute covering an area of about 200 square meters was unfurled to continue reducing the velocity to less than 100 meters per second.
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The parachute and the outer shield of the spacecraft were then jettisoned, exposing the lander and rover, and the retrorocket on the lander was fired to further slow the speed of the craft to almost zero.
At about 100 meters above the Martian surface, the craft hovered to identify obstacles and measured the slopes of the surface.
This undated file photo shows an illustration of Tianwen 1 robotic probe entering Martian orbit. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
Avoiding the obstacles, it selected a relatively flat area and descended slowly, touching down safely with its four buffer legs.
The craft's plummet through the Martian atmosphere, lasting about nine minutes, was extremely complicated with no ground control, and had to be performed by the spacecraft autonomously, said Geng Yan, an official at the Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center of the CNSA.
"Each step had only one chance, and the actions were closely linked. If there had been any flaw, the landing would have failed," said Geng.
The landing of China's spacecraft on the surface of Mars is "a great success" of China's fundamental space research program, said Dmitry Rogozin, head of Russia's state space corporation Roscosmos, on Saturday.
"Roscosmos welcomes the resumption of exploration of the planets of the solar system by the leading space powers," Rogozin said in a statement.