China’s Mars rover soldiers on after completing program

BEIJING (AP) — China’s Mars rover is soldiering on after completing its initial program to explore the red planet and search for whether it once supported life. China’s National Space Administration said on its website Friday the rover completed its 90-day program on Aug. 15 and was in excellent technical condition and fully charged. It said it would continue to explore the area known as Utopia Planitia where it landed on May 14. China is the second country to land and sustainably operate a spacecraft on Mars, after the United States. Meanwhile, a pair of Chinese astronauts aboard China’s orbiting space station completed their second space walk on Friday.