While Chinese researchers vowed to return Mars ‘ rock samples to Earth in 2028 and 2031 with two autonomous cars, American scientists announced that they would launch an unmanned spacecraft to the Red Planet in 2026 and a crewed one in 2028.  ,
In 2028, the China National Space Administration ( CNSA ) intends to launch its Tianwen-3 mission using two launches in 2028, with the goal of retrieving 500 grams of Mars rock samples and looking for signs of planet life.  ,
In the Tianwen 3 plan, the lander or sample collector ( landing-ascending combination ) and deliverer or return module (orbiter-returner combination ) will be launched to Mars separately, Liu Jizhong, director of the Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center of CNSA, said at at the 2nd International Deep Space Exploration Conference in Anhui on September 5.
Foreign area engineers may have to deal with pressing issues like celestial protection, taking off from the Red Planet, encounter on the Martian surface, and collecting examples on the Martian surface, he said.  ,
Some advertising, including the South China Morning Post, said the release of the Tianwen-3 mission to Mars in 2028 is two years earlier than originally planned.  ,
Sun Zezhou, the main designer of the Tianwen-1 mission, had previously stated in April of last year that the earliest time for China to build space rockets to Mars for a random mission had been 2028, with the mission likely to require two rocket launches.
Sun had even at that topic elaborated on the project’s 13 actions, which will be executed through practices such as in-situ and remote-sensing alerts.
Although Liu’s latest talk did not contain new knowledge, it showed that Beijing’s Mars-sampling project remains on track. Earth and Mars fit every 26 weeks, making possible a journey between the two moons within , 259 time or eight-and-a-half times.
In an X article on September 7 following Liu’s talk, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced in an X post that the first of his company’s uncrewed Starships would be launched in 2026 when the next window opened.  ,  ,
” These will not be reconstructed to assess the likelihood of leaving Mars alive.” The initial manned planes to Mars will be in four decades, according to Musk, if those flights go also.  ,
With the intention of creating a self-sustaining town in about 20 years, he added, the airfare price will increase rapidly there.  ,
” Being multiplanetary may significantly increase the possible duration of awareness, as we will no more have all our egg, literally and physiologically, on one planet”, he says.  ,  ,
According to Musk in another article,” It now costs about a billion dollars per lot of important payload to the surface of Mars.” ” That needs to be improved to US$ 100, 000 per lot to create a self-sustaining city it, so the systems needs to be 10, 000 days better. Really hard, but not difficult”.
China’s Long March-5
To land on Mars and collect the stone tests, CNSA and SpaceX may utilize various approaches.  ,
In July 2020, China launched Zhurong, a 240-kilogram vehicle, to Mars with a Long March-5 spacecraft. On May 14, 2021, the vehicle safely made its way to Mars. It stayed engaged for 358 times, exceeding the designed duration of 93 time.  ,
The Long March 5 is nicknamed” Large Five” as it looks large with eight YF-100 and two YF-77 machines, all of which have a combined force of 10, 636 kN. It can carry 14.5 tons into geostationary transfer orbit ( GTO ) and 25 tons into low Earth orbit.  ,  ,
The YF-100 originated from the Soviet Union’s RD-120, which was produced in Ukraine several years earlier. In the 1990s, China seized Ukraine’s vehicles and expertise.  ,
The CNSA you just launch its Mars rover with a Long March-5 in 2028 because the more prominent Long March-9 will only be in use in 2033.
The profit component, which is lighter than the rover, can be launched with the older-generation Long March 3B, which can raise 11.2 lots to low Earth orbit and 5.1 tons to GTO.
SpaceX’s Super Heavy
In contrast, SpaceX’s launch vehicle, Super Heavy, was much younger because it only flew for one more time in April 2023. It has a maximum thrust of 74, 400 kN.  ,
It can travel in geostationary transfer orbit ( GTO ) and 150 tons in low Earth orbit. A Starship can be launched to Mars in one go because of this. Besides, Super Heavy is reusable, helping minimize SpaceX’s launch costs.  ,
Musk’s Mars colonization program sounds rosy, according to a columnist from Anhui, but whether or not it will succeed is another story.  ,
Musk has stated for the first time that he can send people to Mars. Are his astronauts and rockets prepared? Can his objectives actually be accomplished in four years? says the writer.  ,
” Musk does not have sufficient budget or full plans. It’s impossible for SpaceX to complete its missions by 2028, he says, adding that China is pushing its space exploration plans step-by-step.
If the CNSA’s plan is smooth, its Mars samples will arrive on Earth in July 2031.
Meanwhile, NASA has already collected some rock samples with its rovers on Mars. By 2033, it was originally intended to send samples to Earth, but such a step will likely be postponed due to budget concerns.
Read: China’s first Mars rover may sleep forever
Follow Jeff Pao on Twitter at , @jeffpao3