The Sample return mission of China seeks to gather samples from the red planet – Mars and transport them back to Earth in 2031, two years just before NASA-ESA’s collaborative mission.
On June 20, Sun Zezhou, the lead designer of the Tianwen-1 and rover missions, revealed a new mission portfolio for the return of Mars samples to China.
The Tianwen-1 Mars orbiter and rover will launch in late 2028 and will return samples to Earth in July 2031, according to Sun Zezhou’s plans for the 2 launch profile.
With a solitary Mars takeoff and no rovers sampling separate sites, the complicated, dual launch mission will have a simpler design than the joint NASA-ESA project.
But if it were to be successful, it would bring the first samples of Mars that had been collected to Earth, a task universally acknowledged as one of the main scientific objectives of space travel.
Compared to China’s mission to Mars, ESA’s sample return will be delayed by two years. The updated timeline for the ESA’s Earth Return Orbiter launch is 2027 and the samples will return to Earth in 2033.
To lower the total risk of the programme, NASA stated in March that it will postpone the next stage of Mars’ Sample Return campaign and divide a lander mission into two distinct spacecraft.
An Insight To Tianwen-3 And The Mission
To lower the total risk of the programme, NASA stated in March that it will postpone the next stage of Mars’ Sample Return campaign and divide a lander mission into two distinct spacecraft.
In addition to the debris sampling, automatic lunar orbital manoeuvres and thrusters, and supersonic speeds atmospheric transition success attained by the 2020 Chang’e-5 Moon sample return mission, the mission will expand on the Mars entrance, descending, and landing advancements illustrated by Tianwen-1 in May 2021.
Mars would be reached sometime in September 2029. Surface sampling, drilling, and mobile intelligent sampling—possibly utilising a four-legged robot—will all be used as sampling approaches.
According to the presentation, the ascension vehicle will have two stages and use either liquid or solid propulsion to go at a speed of 4.5 kilometres per second.
The spacecraft will leave Mars orbit in late October 2030 in preparation for its merger and docking with the awaiting orbiter, which will take place in July 2031.
What China Should be Worried About
In order to prepare for the sample return mission, Sun Zezhou noted that the Tianwen-1 orbiter will now execute an atmospheric reentry test in Mars orbit later this year.
The technological criticality and need for independence are some of the primary hurdles for the project.
On the flip side, another highlighted aspect is that the arrival may occur autumnal equinox in the northern latitudes, in which the expedition will likely land.
Related difficulties include probable sand storms and poor solar energy supply.
Government’s Action
The relevant senior space and political authorities appear to be supporting China’s Mars sample return project.
The country’s aim to carry out the unique mission has been previously mentioned and will be included in the China National Space Administration’s plans for development spanning 2021-2025. Two missions will be followed by the sample return.
The nation’s first independent interplanetary mission, Tianwen-1, launched in July 2020 and sent an orbiter and rover to Mars.
A main-belt comet will also be visited by the relatively close asteroid sampling mission Tianwen-2. A launch in 2025 is predicted by current plans.
