China's first Mars rover starts exploring red planet

Ye Peijian (2nd R), academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and senior spacecraft expert, talks with space experts after China's first Mars rover, Zhurong, driving down from its landing platform to the Martian surface, at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center in Beijing, capital of China, May 22, 2021. China's first Mars rover, Zhurong, drove down from its landing platform to the Martian surface Saturday, leaving the country's first "footprints" on the red planet. Zhurong's first successful drive made China the second country after the United States to land and operate a rover on Mars. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang)