BEIJING — Anticipation mounted Friday for the landing on Mars of China’s “Zhurong” rover, a few months behind America’s latest probe to the Red Planet, as Beijing presses ahead with its increasingly bold space ambitions.
The launch of China’s Mars probe Tianwen-1 last July marked a major milestone in its space program, which Beijing views as a sign of its rising global stature and technological might.
The spacecraft, which entered Mars’ orbit in February, has now reached a “crucial touchdown stage” as it prepares to land its rover in a vast northern lava plain known as the Utopia Planitia, the state-run tabloid Global Times said Friday.
Chinese officials…
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