Photo courtesy of NASA/JPL/UArizona
China’s plans for exploration of Mars have moved up by two years, meaning it hopes to launch its Tianwen 3 Mars sample return mission by 2028. This sudden acceleration in their plans has sparked tension with the US, leading to speculation that a “new space race” is underway.
Exploration of Mars will give vital information about both the planet and our solar system, and the first country to achieve this will be the world leader in space exploration. Despite billions of dollars being spent and having collaborators around the world, the US is behind in its own plans to return samples from Mars and the window of opportunity to make this journey is incredibly small and precise. Nevertheless, both countries, as well as others, continue to spearhead their efforts for Mars travel.
At the second International Deep Space Exploration Conference that took place earlier this month, Liu Jizhong, the chief designer of the Tianwen 3 mission, laid out the components of the plan and what China hopes to collect. The mission will consist of two rocket launches from Earth, writes Sharmila Kuthunru of Space.com. “One will carry a lander and a two-stage ascent vehicle, and the other an orbiter and Earth-return craft.” The mission objective is to use the lander’s drill to collect and return roughly 600 grams or 21 ounces of Martian soil. These surface samples will give a clue about the planet’s climate evolution as possible signs of life. China plans to advance the exploration efforts even further by developing a “foldable, autonomous helicopter similar to NASA’s Ingenuity, as well as a six-legged robot to collect samples away from the landing site,” reports Space.com.
Astrophysicist Quentin Parker of Hong Kong University reports that “China is also offering 25kg (55 pounds) of space for international payloads to piggyback on the Tianwen-3 orbiter,” writes Ling Xin of South China Morning Post. This payload will include more soil samples to be shared with other countries around the world so their scientists can examine them. Tianwen 3 mission hopes to take a very quick “grab-and-go” approach to bringing Mars samples to Earth, which differs from NASA’s efforts. NASA’s Perseverance rover landed in Mars’ Jezero crater in 2021 and since then, it has been exploring that same crater, having collected 25 sample tubes of soil sample. These samples were originally intended to be collected and brought back by a separate Mars Space Return (MSR) mission, a collaboration between NASA and the European Pace Agency. However, since September of last year, there have been worries about the feasibility of this mission.
An independent review completed by NASA found that the MSR mission would cost roughly $11 billion and would not be completed until 2040, a deadline that was deemed unacceptable by those vying to beat China in the race to Mars. In June of this year, NASA gave $1.5 million contracts to seven spacecraft companies, including SpaceX, Blue Origin, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman for “out-of-the-box” methods of space exploration that are less expensive and can be completed sooner. We have yet to see success from these companies. High importance is placed on obtaining these samples because they contain. “both fine- and coarse-grained sandstone and mudstone sediments [that] could reveal crucial clues about the chemistry of the water that deposited them billions of years ago — and, perhaps, evidence of past microbial life on Mars,” writes Kuthunru.
Whichever nation “wins” will be the first country to study the planet’s geographical history and may be perceived as the new leader in Mars exploration. India also plans to launch both a helicopter and rover on Mars by 2025, according to Ling Xin. Time will tell if these efforts will end up yielding success for these countries and leaders of these countries continue to support the efforts of space exploration companies.
