Chinese scientists Liu Jizhong and Hu Zhengqian said its next Mars sample return mission – Tianwen-3 – is likely to launch sometime around 2030.
The remarks came as Jizhong and Zheng Qian, director of China’s Lunar Research and Space Program Center – with the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences – spoke at the International Conference on Deep Space Sciences in Hefei, Anhui Province, on April 22. The presentation was given.
The presentation outlined the mission’s science objectives, including sample collection and mobile sampling.
The Tianwen-3 mission will involve a dual launch of two Long March 5 rockets, each carrying a vehicle stack.
One stack will contain the landing vehicle and two stage ascent vehicles, while the other will contain the orbiter and return craft.
The lander will descend on the surface of Mars. It will collect and store up to 500 grams of material, and then send it back into space.
The orbiter will wait for rendezvous and sample transfer with the return vehicle that will store the sample that will be sent back to Earth.
The launch vehicle will weigh about 790 pounds (360 kg) and will consist of a solid rocket first stage and a liquid propellant upper stage.
The samples will then be transferred to the orbiter’s return vehicle in preparation for the Mars orbital departure and return trip to Earth.
Mobile sampling is also listed as a mission objective, along with criteria for possible landing sites, including past liquid water, elevation, terrain, geologic diversity, and the ability to return samples to Mars orbit. and evidence of the best position of latitude included.
The Tianwen-3 mission is expected to beat the current schedule for a similar Mars sample return mission, which is planned by NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) for a sample return date of 2033. Made for
However, the latest presentation did not provide an expected launch date for the Chinese mission.
