China Details Plans to Return Mars Samples Two Years Before NASA-ESA
NASA’s Perseverance rover is currently trundling around the red planet, doing science and collecting samples. Those samples are destined to return to Earth in the 2030s with the European Space Agency’s (ESA) help, but China now says it is planning a Mars mission that could get samples back home even sooner than that. The proposed Tianwen-3 would have a simpler design than the NASA-ESA initiative, and it could result in pristine bits of Mars returning to Earth as soon as 2031.
Sun Zezhou, the designer of China’s Tianwen-1 Mars orbiter and rover, delivered a presentation on June 20th as part of a celebration marking the 120th anniversary of Nanjing University. According to Sun, it may be possible to launch the proposed sample collection mission as soon as 2028, and a probe could return with the materials in 2031. That’s two years earlier than the best case NASA-ESA estimates.
NASA has opted to split its sample return into multiple parts to lessen the risk, but that means it’s going to take longer. Perseverance is already collecting samples in its ultra-clean sealed tubes, but the next phase of the mission will consist of several parts. There’s a lander with a small rover that will physically collect the tubes from Perseverance, a lander with the Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) to take them into orbit, and then a spacecraft in orbit will pick up the samples and head home. SpaceNews notes that the ESA isn’t planning to launch the return vehicle until 2027, and the earliest the samples could return home is 2033.
The Chinese proposal consists of two launches using Chinese Long March rockets. One will feature a lander with a four-legged robot designed only for sample collection and an ascent vehicle. The second part of the mission will be the orbital return craft, which will pick up the ascent vehicle before setting course for Earth.
Mars sample return mission of China, presented by Sun Zezhou, the chief designer of the Tianwen-1 mission. Two launches and returning at the July of 2031. #CNSAhttps://t.co/DCAs6uoArq pic.twitter.com/VPMcerxvfm
— Yuqi Qian (@YuqiiQian) June 20, 2022
According to Sun, the mission will leverage the experience gained from 2020’s Chang’e-5 lunar sample return mission, along with the descent and landing technologies demonstrated with Tianwen-1. The landings could take place as soon as 2029. The robot won’t travel around Mars for years, getting cores from different regions — it will get what it came for, and then rendezvous with the ascent vehicle. That means the return module could leave Mars orbit as soon as 2030, reaching Earth in July 2031.
This initiative reportedly has the support of China’s top space and government authorities. The importance of collecting samples from Mars was cited in the China National Space Administration’s 2021-2025 development plans. Before Tianwen-3, China plans to launch Tianwen-2, which is an asteroid sampling mission. There will also be an aerobraking test with the Tianwen-1 Mars orbiter to validate part of the Tianwen-3 plan.
Continue reading
Elon Musk: SpaceX Will Send People to Mars in 4 to 6 Years
SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk likes to make bold claims. Sometimes he comes through, and we end up with a reusable Falcon 9 rocket, but Musk also has a tendency to get carried away, particularly when it comes to Mars. The SpaceX CEO has long promised a Mars colony on an aggressive, and some…
Astronomers Have Detected a Planet’s Radio Emissions 51 Light-Years Away
The researchers claim this marks the first time an exoplanet has been detected in the radio bands.
One Developer Is Fixing SNES Game Lag After 30 Years
One dedicated developer is releasing 'FastROM' patches to emulate Nintendo's SA1 chip in games that never had it, eliminating the annoying slowdowns that have plagued gamers for almost 30 years.
PC Sales Up 26 Percent in Q4, 13 Percent Year-on-Year
PC sales have skyrocketed in 2020, and the trend should continue into 2021.