China aims to launch its first mission to Mars in 2033 and build a base on the Red Planet in the following missions. According to the head of the country’s major rocket manufacturer.
Wang Xiaojun, head of the China Institute of Automotive Technology (CALT), outlined the plans in a video-linked speech at the Global Space Exploration Conference (GLEX 2021) held June 14 to 17 in St. Peter. Strasbourg
Wang revisits the Tianwen-1 mission for the first time, China’s first mission to orbit, land and travel in one go. Before he revealed a three-step roadmap for the country’s future Mars exploration.
step one In the process of technology preparation China will send robots to Mars for various tasks including the return of the sample Exploring possible areas for future bases and building systems to use resources in place
Xu Hongliang, a spokesman for the Chinese Space Agency, said the unmanned round-trip mission to collect samples from Mars is expected around 2030.
for human habitation on Mars The crew must be able to use planetary resources, such as extracting any water beneath its surface. on-site oxygen production and power generation
second step Crew missions will be launched and a Mars base will be built. It hopes to launch crews to Mars in 2033, 2035, 2037, 2041
and beyond.The third phase of the plan will see a fleet of spacecraft running between Earth and Mars and the massive development of the Red Planet.
Huang said nuclear rockets are an important option for manned Mars exploration missions.
meanwhile China is studying The “sky ladder”, which is also a new space transport system for Mars missions, Wang said, without elaborating.
At the start of the manned mission to Mars The transportation system will consist of multiple vehicles, such as a carrier rocket, an Earth-to-Mars carrier rocket. landing on Mars and vehicles up Different types of transport spacecraft will be used in different stages of the mission
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