China defies the US and brings forward historic mission to Mars to 2028!

China is moving up the launch of its Tianwen-3 mission to Mars, now scheduled for 2028, two years ahead of schedule, putting the country ahead in the space race as the United States faces delays and budget increases in its mission to collect samples from the Red Planet.

Liu Jizhong, the chief designer of the Chinese mission, announced the new date at the Second International Conference on Deep Space Exploration, held in Huangshan, Anhui province, on Thursday. The mission’s goal is to return to Earth with about 600 grams of Martian soil.

The new launch schedule puts Mars samples back on Earth around July 2031. According to Namrata Goswami, a space policy researcher at Arizona State University, the change in schedule demonstrates China’s growing confidence in its space technology. If China is the first to complete a successful Mars sample return mission, it could take the lead in global space exploration.

According to Quentin Parker, an astrophysicist at the University of Hong Kong, the timeline is “aggressive” and there is a real chance that China could beat the US to the punch. The country is offering 25 kilograms of space on its Tianwen-3 orbiter for international payloads, demonstrating Beijing’s willingness to collaborate with other nations on exploring the Moon and Mars.

The Tianwen-3 mission will use landing, sample collection and launch technologies previously tested in previous missions, such as Chang’e-5 and Chang’e-6. The lander will be sent to the red planet using two Long March 5 rockets. Sample collection will be done through multi-point excavation, deep drilling and the use of a rover.

Meanwhile, the US Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission is facing uncertainty. NASA’s mission, which has already collected 25 samples using the Perseverance rover, has been estimated to cost $11 billion and could be delayed beyond 2040. NASA recently asked companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin for help in developing faster and cheaper solutions.

In the race to Mars, China is moving ahead quickly, while countries such as India and the European Space Agency are also planning their own missions to the planet in the coming decades. The success of Tianwen-3 would not only boost China’s prestige in space exploration, but also boost its plans to send humans to Mars and build a research base by 2045.

With information from the South China Morning Post.