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Jun 8, 2009 01:47 PM | 2
The rapidly ascending Chinese space program is setting its sights on a new target: Mars.
China plans to send an orbiter to the Red Planet on a Russian launch vehicle later this year, according to the Xinhua News Agency. The nation's first Mars probe, Yinghuo 1, will piggyback on the ambitious Phobos–Grunt mission, a Russian spacecraft that will seek to return soil samples from Phobos, the larger of Mars's two tiny moons.
Details on the orbiter's cost and scientific goals are scarce, with a Shanghai Aeronautic Bureau official telling the news agency: "(The major task) is to orbit and explore Mars and test data of Mars' atmosphere and surrounding environment. This is to create a better platform for future space exploration." A 2007 Xinhua report described a small probe: just 2.5 feet (75 centimeters) long and weighing 240 pounds (110 kilograms).
The China National Space Administration became the third space program to successfully launch astronauts into orbit in 2003, then followed up with the country's first spacewalk last year. China successfully sent a probe to orbit the moon, dubbed Chang'e 1, in 2007.
Photo of Mars: NASA
Tags:
planetary science,
taikonauts,
Chinese space program,
space exploration
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2 Comments
Add CommentIt probably will work just fine, considering they had a Chinese operative leaking NASA secrets to their government for years.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIn any case, the CNSA can probably stand on its own by now. If their probe did fail it would be pretty humiliating for them.
joeldooris: I'm sorry to have to validate your comment by responding to it, you obviously lack any sort of information on, or understanding of the Chinese space program (I'm not claiming to know everything about it, but I'm also not an idiot). Judging by your language you probably don't go out of your way to learn much.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe Chinese space program (mainly their launch vehicles and manned capsules) is directly based on tried and true Soyuz technology, designed by the Soviets, the pioneers of space travel. It is still in use after over 40 years. No other space-faring nation has a launch vehicle with as long a history as Soyuz.
With the enormous expenses involved in maintaining a space program, and their national ego on the line, no country (including China) can afford to cut corners on their space program. Once a rocket is launched, it's a done deal. It's absolutely gotta work right out of the box, you can't go up and fix it when something goes wrong. The Russians learned this the hard way and (correct me if I'm wrong) since the 70's they have had a higher launch success rating than NASA.
The Soyuz program is a model of how to build cheap, safe and effective rockets. China definitely made the right choice by basing their rockets on such a tried, tested and successful design.