Mars

At the Center for Space Control in Beijing, there was big jubilation when China made a successful landing on Mars early on Saturday.

The landing has taken place blindly for them down to the surface of the planet. The rover is programmed to make the landing on its own.

Why local flight on Mars is a big deal

The American space agency has successfully flown a small helicopter on Mars.

The drone, called Ingenuity, was airborne for less than a minute, but Nasa is celebrating what represents the first powered, controlled flight by an aircraft on another world.

Confirmation came via a satellite at Mars which relayed the chopper's data back to Earth.

NASA's experimental Mars helicopter rose from the dusty red surface into the planet's thin air on April 19, achieving the first powered flight on another planet.

Nasa has released a stunning image from Mars showing an area covered by a sea of "blue" sand dunes.

The picture shows the sand dunes covering the planet's northern polar cap, where temperatures can reach as low as -150C (-238F).

Nasa says the sand dunes actually cover an area the size of Texas, the second largest US state, which has an area of about 695,662 km²

As exciting as the entire Perseverance mission to Mars is, one of the events most looked forward to by us Earthlings must be the first flight of Ingenuity. After conducting numerous checks and double-checks, the Perseverance team has set April 8 as the date on which they hope to attempt the first controlled powered flight on another planet.

NASA's Mars Perseverance rover went on its first drive across the planet's surface after landing there in mid-February, the US-based National Aeronautics and Space Agency announced in a statement.

The Perseverance rover touched down the Red Planet's surface in the area of Jezero Crater on February 18. All the operations were conducted in the automatic mode.

NASA's newest Mars rover hit the dusty red road this week, putting 21 feet on the odometer in its first test drive.

The Perseverance rover ventured from its landing position on March 4, two weeks after setting down on the red planet to seek signs of past life.

The US space agency's Perseverance rover has wiggled its wheels and undertaken its first Martian drive.

It didn't move far - just 6.5m in total.

But Nasa  scientist believe it was a significant moment.

While the rover is still doing a lot of engineering checkouts, the minute 'the rubber' begins to move it should be considered as "explorer" on the surface of Mars.

The US space agency NASA on Monday released the first audio from Mars, a faint crackling recording of a gust of wind captured by the Perseverance rover.

NASA also released the first video of last week's landing of the rover, which is on a mission to search for signs of past life on the Red Planet.