China plans to land rover on Mars by 2020

[cirr]

China plans to land rover on Mars by 2020

Published time: June 26, 2014 02:29

Reuters/Ali Jarekji

China, SciTech, Space

China is planning to land a rover on Mars by 2020 and bring back samples from the Red Planet a decade later, according to a top scientist with the country’s Lunar Exploration Program.

The Mars probe will be launching an orbiter and a landing rover, Ouyang Ziyuan of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and one of the chief scientists of China’s Lunar Exploration Program (CLEP) said on Monday at the 22nd International Planetarium Society Conference in Beijing, with 35 other member countries in attendance.

The central goal of the mission is to explore extraterrestrial activity and research the planet’s environment, Ouyang explained. "The mission will also mark the beginning of China’s deeper voyages into outer space,” the Shanghai Daily quoted him as saying.

Ouyang presented a timetable for the mission – to land the rover by 2020 and collect samples from the Red Planet a decade later.

China is also planning to conduct further space explorations, including looking for signs of life on other planets.

China’s Mars program began in 2009 in cooperation with Russia. However, the Chinese probe Yinghuo-1, which was carried by the Russian spacecraft Fobos-Grunt, crashed shortly after lift-off in 2011. Following the accident, China continued with its own Mars probe.

Just last month, a Chinese team emerged from a sealed capsule, in which they subsisted on mealworms and plants for over three months in a study designed to determine if the high-protein diet could be used in lengthy space travel.

Read more: Chinese space team survives on worm diet for 105 days

In 2013, China landed the unmanned lunar rover Yutu (Jade Rabbit) on the Moon as part of its Chang’e-3 mission. By 2017, the Chinese plan to bring back rock samples from the Moon.

Also, by 2020 – the year the International Space Station is scheduled to be retired – Beijing plans to operate a comparable, full-manned orbital lab of its own.

China plans to land rover on Mars by 2020 — RT News

 

[cirr]

Plannings for deep space exploration before 2030：

Steady as we go。

 

[TimeToScoot]

In 2013, China landed the unmanned lunar rover Yutu (Jade Rabbit) on the Moon as part of its Chang’e-3 mission.

What is the status of this mission?

 

[Sasquatch]

China Exclusive: China developing Mars rover - Xinhua | English.news.cn

After successfully putting the "Jade Rabbit" lunar rover on the moon, Chinese space experts say the country's planned Mars vehicle will be larger, tougher and a better climber.

On Tuesday, a real-sized model of the Mars rover is on display at the Airshow China 2014 in south China's Zhuhai City, offering a rare glimpse of the spacecraft still being designed.

"Our current concept is that it will have six wheels, like Yutu (Jade Rabbit), but will be larger in size and better at crossing obstacles," says Jia Yang, who led the team that developed Yutu.

"Yutu can climb over obstacles no higher than 20-centimetres, but has to bypass larger rocks. This will not work on Mars, where places are full of large rocks like in the Gobi Desert. So we must improve its adaptability to complex territory," he said.

The 2-meter-long model on display is the prototype. Its final look and functions are yet to be decided.

China has not announced an official plan for a Mars probe, but Ouyang Ziyuan, a lead scientist in China's moon probe mission, has said China plans to land a Mars rover around 2020, collect samples and bring them back around 2030.

Jia expects the Mars buggy to be solar-powered, its weight close to NASA's Spirit and Opportunity rovers at about 180 kg. NASA's latest Curiosity rover weighs 900 kg and is powered by nuclear battery, but Jia says the capability of China's carrier rockets limits the size of its Mars rover.

Yutu reported a mechanical malfunction during the second lunar day after its successful landing in December last year, prompting Chinese experts to stress the fault response on the Mars rover.

"The Mars environment is more complicated and adverse than that of the moon. We're working to overcome the worst scenario - dust storms that will significantly lower the energy output of the solar battery," Jia says.

Displayed with the rover is a model of a capsule designed to carry the vehicle into the planet's atmosphere. Jia says they are still working on the capsule's parachute and heat-proof structure that will enable it to land in the extremely thin air, one of the hardest parts of the Mars mission.

Forty-three probes have been sent to Mars since 1960, of which 19 succeeded.

 

[Sasquatch]

Model was shown before Zhuhai. 2020 is the scheduled year

 

[Al Bhatti]

 

[Keel]

View attachment 150735

This is perhaps not our Mars rover
That looked like a Yutu (Jade Rabbit) prototype - our Lunar rover
Yutu (rover) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You can find the Mars rover which was shown in our recent international indusrial exhibition from the link:

二代“火星车”登陆2014中国国际工业博览会(图)-科技无限-北方网

二代“火星车”登陆2014中国国际工业博览会(图)
天津北方网——权威媒体 天津门户　 2014-11-06 12:56
来源： 新华网 　作者：汤彦俊 　2014-11-06 12:56:48 　编辑：王钰晨

11月4日，在上海举行的2014中国国际工业博览会上，火星车原理样机的亮相吸引了众多关注的目光。在“玉兔号”月球车相关技术积累的基础上，由上海宇航系统工程研究所牵头与国内外多家单位合作开展了火星车相关预先研究工作，开发了多种构型的火星车数字样机。

11月4日，在上海举行的2014中国国际工业博览会上，火星车原理样机的亮相吸引了众多关注的目光。在“玉兔号”月球车相关技术积累的基础上，由上海宇航系统工程研究所牵头与国内外多家单位合作开展了火星车相关预先研究工作，开发了多种构型的火星车数字样机。

11月4日，第十六届中国国际工业博览会在上海开幕，上海宇航系统工程研究所牵头研制的二代火星车原理样机首次在展会展出。第二代火星车原理样机采用了适应火星表面地形的壳体轮，可重复收展太阳翼。桅杆展开后高度可达3米以上，携带高清晰度相机，可实现大范围拍摄和长距离导航。据悉，我国计划在2020年前后实现火星着陆巡视，在2030年前后实现火星采样返回。

11月4日，第十六届中国国际工业博览会在上海开幕，上海宇航系统工程研究所牵头研制的二代火星车原理样机首次在展会展出。第二代火星车原理样机采用了适应火星表面地形的壳体轮，可重复收展太阳翼。桅杆展开后高度可达3米以上，携带高清晰度相机，可实现大范围拍摄和长距离导航。据悉，我国计划在2020年前后实现火星着陆巡视，在2030年前后实现火星采样返回。

 

[BoQ77]

that's on Red planet printed background.

 

[Beidou2020]

India is ahead of China is mars exploration. China was not ambitious enough due to government interference. India will put rover on mars in 2018.

 

[Audio]

Solar array looks massive. This could either mean that solar cells aren't efficient enough (possible is also that the robust kind of solar cells-the ones that are fit to operate on another planet aren't efficient enough), or that there is large power consumption planned, meaning, lots of range and/or plenty of instruments.

 

[Viny]

India is ahead of China is mars exploration. China was not ambitious enough due to government interference. India will put rover on mars in 2018.

View attachment 158471

On topic:- Good news

Ya now that we own Rovers we can send them at will :p

Keeping jokes aside, its good to see India and China pushing ahead the space exploration missions.
Who reaches first should not matter, knowledge sharing should be focused for a better future.

 

[Sam Manekshaw]

Ya now that we own Rovers we can send them at will :p

Keeping jokes aside, its good to see India and China pushing ahead the space exploration missions.
Who reaches first should not matter, knowledge sharing should be focused for a better future.

For the Mankind my frnd.