China wants to bring Mars samples before the US

The Tianwen 3 spacecraft launched around 2030 could help China become the first country to successfully bring Martian samples to Earth.

Wu Weiren, design director of China's Lunar Exploration Program , predicted that the country could beat the US in the race to bring rock samples from the red planet to Earth, MSN reported on April 26 . "China will launch the Tianwen 3 spacecraft around 2030 to conduct a mission to bring back Mars samples ," Wu Weiren shared in a speech at the China Space Conference in Wuhan, Hubei . "Judging by progress around the world, we will become the first country to transport samples from Mars" .

China's Zhurong rover on Mars. (Photo: CGTN).

Wu is the first Chinese official in the aerospace industry to make such a public prediction. He also revealed that China has begun planning a project to build the world's first Mars sample laboratory. Sun Zezhou, Wu's colleague and design director of the 2021 Mars mission Thien Van 1, once revealed that all key technology for Thien Van 3 is ready and work is progressing smoothly.

China and the United States are the only two countries to land gently on Mars, one of the places in the solar system where life can exist, and is an important destination to explore. NASA once expected to be able to bring Martian rock samples to Earth around 2030. The US Perseverance self-propelled robot collected a number of sample tubes and placed them on the surface of Mars to bring back later.

However, the cost of the program skyrocketed from 4 billion to 11 billion USD, forcing NASA to abandon the original plan. If NASA cannot collect the full $11 billion for this mission, they will not be able to return samples to Earth before 2040. NASA Director Bill Nelson shared that they are considering proposals for faster and cheaper solutions to collect samples. specimen recovery.

NASA's exploration of Mars began five decades ago. In 1976, their Viking 1 and Viking 2 landers became the first spacecraft to land on the red planet. Landing attempts by the Soviet Union and the European Space Agency both failed. China joined the exploration of Mars quite late. In 2021, their Thien Van 1 spacecraft successfully deployed a spacecraft around the planet's orbit, while also delivering a lander and rover to the surface of Mars.