Tianwen-3: China wants to fly to Mars in 2028 and bring samples back to Earth

China's preparations for the next mission to Mars are apparently going better than initially expected. As early as 2028, "Tianwen-3" will not only land on Mars and conduct research, but also collect samples from the red planet and bring them back to Earth. Mission leader Liu Jizhong explained this yesterday at an international conference on space exploration in Tunxi in China's Anhui Province.

The Tianwen-3 mission builds on experience gained by China during the Tianwen-1 Mars mission launched in 2020. It will also use similar technology. China's Zhurong rover landed on Mars as part of Tianwen-1. The probe also took some spectacular selfie videos in front of Mars. However, at the beginning of 2023, it emerged that China's Mars rover Zhurong had not moved for months, as it was probably covered in dust and the solar panels could no longer be used to supply power.

Tianwen-3 will even include two launches of Long March 5 rockets. One will carry a lander and a vehicle to lift off from the Martian surface for the return, the other an orbiter and a module for the return to Earth, reports Spacenews. It could even carry a helicopter and a six-legged crawling robot for collecting Martian samples further away from the lander. Entry into the Martian atmosphere, descent and landing are based on technologies that were already used for the landing of the Tianwen-1 Mars rover.

Launch in 2028 or 2030 would be optimal

Earlier this year, Sun Zezhou, a senior engineer at the Chinese Academy of Space Technology (CAST), stated that work on Tianwen-3 was progressing "relatively smoothly" and that it could be launched around 2030. Previously, launches to Mars were thought to be possible in either 2028 or 2030, as the optimal launch window only opens for a few weeks every 26 months.

The main objective of the Tianwen-3 mission is to search for evidence of organic life on Mars, as mission leader Liu explains on Chinese state television. It is also emphasized that the mission will adhere to international agreements on planetary protection. The aim is to avoid contamination from both Mars and Earth.

International cooperation

According to the Chinese news agency Xinhua, China is also working together with international organizations for the transport, the Mars samples, the collected data and the joint research. During the "Chang'e 6" mission, when a Chinese space capsule returned to Earth with moon rocks, China also made these samples available to international scientists for their research.

NASA has already collected some soil samples on Mars with its Perseverance rover, but is still looking for ideas for cheaper transportation to Earth. This is because the costs are getting out of hand. The latest plan was not to bring the samples to Earth before 2040, which is the decade in which humans are due to fly to the Red Planet for the first time.

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