China's Mars rover touches ground on red planet

China’s first Mars rover has driven down from its landing platform and is now roaming the surface of the red planet

BEIJING -- China’s first Mars rover has driven down from its landing platform and is now roaming the surface of the red planet, China's space administration said Saturday. The solar-powered rover touched Martian soil at 10:40 a.m. Saturday Beijing time (0240 GMT), the China National Space Administration said. China landed the spacecraft carrying the rover on Mars last Saturday, a technically challenging feat more difficult than a moon landing, in a first for the country. It is the second country to do so, after the United States. Named after the Chinese god of fire, Zhurong, the rover has been running diagnostics tests for several days before it began its exploration Saturday. It is expected to be deployed for 90 days to search of evidence of life.