Posted on 06/29/2014 11:24:24 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
China has ambitious plans to touch down on Mars by 2020, likely with a rover, and to collect its own samples from the red planet 10 years after that, a top aerospace scientist has revealed.
China already sent a probe, the Jade Rabbit (or Yutu) to the moon last year. It is expanding its horizons this time.
Ouyang Ziyuan, chief scientist of the country’s lunar project, said the new Mars programme aimed to create space probes – an orbiter and rover – for Mars, according to the Beijing Times.
They will help answer questions including if there is extraterrestrial activity on Mars and whether it is hospitable to life.
Speaking to the 22nd International Planetarium Society Conference in Beijing, which drew 35 member countries, Ouyang gave timetables including collecting samples from the planet by 2030, according to the newspaper.
By comparison, the United States is trageting to launch a manned mission to Mars by 2030 onwards - the first country to announce such plans in 1990. The US also hopes to send a manned mission to an asteroid by 2020.
So far, US space agency Nasa’s Curiosity rover has been leading discoveries on Mars. Since its launch in 2011, it has discovered initial hints that the planet was once host to microorganisms and may have once been awash in water.
Ouyang said China's space agency has set its sights on exploring the solar system – a vast undertaking as the system's diameter, if Pluto is considered the farthest point, spans more than 80 astronomical units or 11 billion kilometres.
(Excerpt) Read more at scmp.com ...
Running out of available space in China to build new ghost cities???
Enough Chinese and enough red spray paint can make the Gobi desert look like a pretty convincing knockoff.
Rover fights - just like in Short Circuit.
Been there and we’ve done that.China has a lot of catching up to do.Though with Obama’s help it shouldn’t take that long.
To make Mars the Red Chinese Planet?
The Russians have almost a perfect record of failure there.
Come over, red rover.
that would have been really impressive 60 years ago.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.