China is launching a Mars probe to look for signs of life using a solar-powered rover which will be fired into space aboard a Long March-5 rocket in July
- Following a successful test in December, China commits to a launch in July
- The country’s Mars mission will send a satellite probe and rover to the planet
- China says it will complete 24 additional test launches of the rocket before July
This week, the Chinese government announced it will launch its long anticipated Mars mission this July, delivering a research rover to drive across the planet surface searching for signs of life and performing environmental analysis.
The mission will use the Long March-5 Y4 carrier rocket, which the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) has described as the country’s most powerful rocket.
The announcement comes less than a month after a successful test flight of an early version of the Long March-5 rocket, which saw the hydrogen-oxygen fueled engine complete a 100-second thrust.
China’s Long March-5 carrier rocket (pictured above), which successfully performed a test launch on December 27, will deliver a satellite probe and rover to Mars. It will launch in July and is expected to arrive on Mars in 2021
The rocket is nicknamed ‘Fat Five’ because it features four smaller thruster engines attached to a longer central launcher.
According to a report in Xinhua, the CASC will conduct an additional 24 engine tests throughout the winter and spring leading up the final launch in July.
The Long March-5 is expected to reach Mars in 2021, and in addition to the surface rover will deliver a satellite probe that will be set in orbit around the planet and help maintain communication with the rover and conduct research on the atmosphere.
China’s Mars mission is one of three set to launch this year, all of which should reach the planet by 2021.
The United Arab Emirates is planning to launch the Hope Mars Mission this summer, delivering a research probe to orbit the planet and gather data about the planet’s climate and weather patterns.
China’s Long March 5 is currently one of the most powerful rocket’s in the world and will help it launch for Mars and create its new space station
China’s main space manufacturer today published a picture (above) of its Martian explorer. The country aims to land the explorer on the Red Planet in two years, according to a scientist
ExoMars Mission is a joint mission with the European Space Agency and Russia’s space agency Roscosmos.
It will also launch in 2020, sending a rover with a six and a half foot drill to the surface of the planet to collect soil and mineral samples.
NASA is planning to launch its own mission on July 17, called Mars 2020.
It will send a research rover and helicopter drone to the surface to conduct a wide range of research, including assessing the potential for creating a human settlement on the planet.
