China plans 2028 mission to Mars to bring back soil samples
Patrick Djordjevic
FILE - This Aug. 26, 2003, image made available by NASA shows Mars as it lines up with the Sun and the Earth. A new study suggests water on Mars may be more widespread and recent than previously thought. Scientists reported the finding from China's Mars rover in Science Advances on Friday, April 28, 2023. (NASA/J. Bell - Cornell U./M. Wolff - SSI via AP, File)
(NewsNation) — China is set to embark on a mission to Mars in 2028, hoping to bring back Martian soil.
Space News reported that the mission’s chief designer, Liu Jizhong, said Thursday the Chinese wanted 21 ounces of Martian soil brought home.
Initially, China planned to arrive on Mars in 2030 but has fast-tracked its expedition. This would allow for the return of soil by 2031.
Tianwen-3, the mission’s name, will involve two rocket launches from Earth and could include a robot to collect samples and a helicopter.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in June that he believed China and the United States to be in a space race.
Mars from Viking 1 orbiter, Viking 1 Mission to Mars, 1976. The Viking 1 spacecraft, part of NASA’s Viking programme, was the first spacecraft to land successfully on Mars and perform its mission. It sent images of the Martian surface back to Earth. Artist NASA. (Photo by Heritage Space/Heritage Images/Getty Images)
The Sojourner Rover uses its Alpha Proton X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) to analyse the Yogi Rock on the surface of Mars, during the Mars Pathfinder exploratory mission, July 1997. The rock was thought to be composed of basalt. (Photo by Space Frontiers/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
IN SPACE – JULY 16: In this handout image supplied by the European Space Agency (ESA) on July 16, 2008, The Echus Chasma, one of the largest water source regions on Mars, is pictured from ESA’s Mars Express. The data was acquired on September 25, 2005. The dark material shows a network of light-coloured, incised valleys that look similar to drainage networks known on Earth. It is still debated whether the valleys originate from precipitation, groundwater springs or liquid or magma flows on the surface. (Photo by ESA via Getty Images)
IN SPACE – JUNE 26: NASA’s Earth-orbiting Hubble Space Telescope took this picture June 26, 2003 of Mars. Mars was approximately 43 million miles (68 million km) from Earth, the closest Mars has ever been to Earth since 1988. Frosty white water ice clouds and swirling orange dust storms above a vivid rusty landscape reveal Mars as a dynamic planet in this sharpest view ever obtained by an Earth-based telescope. Hubble can see details as small as 10 miles (16 km) across. Especially striking is the large amount of seasonal dust storm activity seen in this image. One large storm system is churning high above the northern polar cap (Top) and a smaller dust storm cloud can be seen nearby. (Photo by NASA/Getty Images)
NEWARK, NJ – OCTOBER 2: The moon rises along with Mars behind lower Manhattan and One World Trade Center in New York City and homes in Jersey City, a day after the full Harvest Moon on October 1, 2020 as seen from Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Gary Hershorn/Getty Images)
JEZERO CRATER, MARS – FEBRUARY 18: In this handout image provided by NASA, one of the six wheels aboard NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover, taken by one of Perseverance’s color Hazard Cameras (Hazcams) after its landing in the area known as Jezero crater on February 18, 2021 on the planet Mars. A key objective for Perseverance’s mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet’s geology and past climate, paving the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith. (Photo by NASA via Getty Images)
JEZERO CRATER, MARS – FEBRUARY 18: In this handout image provided by NASA, the first high-resolution, color image to be sent back by the Hazard Cameras (Hazcams) on the underside of NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover after its landing in the area known as Jezero crater on February 18, 2021 on the planet Mars. A key objective for Perseverance’s mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet’s geology and past climate, paving the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith. (Photo by NASA via Getty Images)
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The U.S. currently has its Perseverance rover on Mars, where it has resided for almost four years roaming around the bottom of a crater.
Last month, it began climbing upward and, according to The Associated Press, has collected 22 rock core samples in its time on the planet.
Blue Origin’s long-delayed New Glenn rocket may see NASA miss a crucial window for a new Mars mission.
