China Mars Mission: China is Planning to send a Probe to MARS in 2020

CHINA MARS MISSION:

China unveiled an experiment that simulates the landing of a probe on the surface of Mars, the Asian giant expects this mission next year.

After landing on the hidden face of the moon last January, China is preparing to launch a probe to Mars in 2020, which would be an “unprecedented achievement,” according to the China National Space Administration (CNSA). 

China Space Mission! Credits : Space News

The experiment simulated the severity of the red planet – the experiment for china mars mission was in a field for aerospace testing located in the Huailai district, in the northern province of Hebei.

The landing is the biggest challenge in the Mars mission, the institution’s director, Zhang Kejian, who says China has been “actively promoting” international cooperation in space exploration, told the Chinese media.  

The experiment was attended by ambassadors and diplomats from 19 countries, including France, Italy and Brazil, and representatives of the European Union, the African Union and the Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization.    

Last January, the Chang’e 4 probe successfully landed on the hidden side of the Moon for the first time in history, carrying cotton seeds, rapeseed, potatoes and arabidopsis, as well as fruit fly eggs and some yeasts, with the purpose of being able to create a “simple mini biosphere”, although only cotton prospered.        

The Chang’e program began with the launch of the first probe in 2007, and since then four more probes have been taken to Earth’s only satellite.

The ultimate goal of this Chang’e program is to send a manned mission to the Moon, although the date has not been set and some experts place it around 2036.

Regarding the China mission to Mars, the president of China’s Aerospace Propulsion Technology Academy, Liu Zhirang, said in March that Chinese technicians are testing new propulsion technologies given the characteristics of the mission.

Liu said that the engines should be even more compact than those destined for the missions to the Moon, given the peculiarities of the Martian atmosphere, and endowed with greater autonomy, since the distance to the Earth may delay the signals from the centers of control.

                                                        Video credits: TomoNews US