China is no longer content with exploring Mars remotely, but is preparing for a step that may be one of the most important achievements in planetary exploration, which is bringing real samples from the surface of the Red Planet to Earth and analyzing them in laboratories.
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China says the Tianwen-3 mission will launch around 2028 on two Long March rockets, with the goal of collecting about 500 grams of Martian rocks and soil and returning them to Earth around 2031. If the plan succeeds, China could make history as the first country to return samples from Mars, and perhaps the first country to obtain direct evidence of extraterrestrial life
The idea of returning samples from Mars began decades ago as one of the most ambitious scientific endeavors, but it has remained more complex than sending a spacecraft to the planet's surface, because the mission requires landing, collecting samples, launching them from Mars, then capturing them in space and returning them safely to Earth.
China is making progress on its Tianwen-3 Mars Sample Return mission. It appears on track getting the trek underway next year, dedicated to bringing back to Earth roughly 500 grams of Red Planet collectibles in 2031. According to the China National Space Administration, the Tianwen-3 probe will have a lander, an ascender, a service capsule, an orbiter, and an Earth reentry module.
Chief scientist for the Tianwen-3 mission, astronomer Hu Zhengqian, said the mission is progressing smoothly and that efforts are intensifying to overcome technical challenges. He added that the probe's equipment has entered the prototype development stage, while scientific teams from across China are working to achieve the mission's objectives.
China is targeting a launch between December 2028 and January 2029, a window of time linked to the movements of Earth and Mars; conditions suitable for launching Mars missions occur only about once every 26 months. The two rockets are scheduled to launch from the Wenchang Space Launch Center on Hainan Island in southern China.
Chinese teams are currently working on selecting a landing site, with a decision expected by the end of 2026. Scientists are looking for areas with a suitable geological history, clear evidence of water activity, conditions that were conducive to life, and a high capacity for preserving fingerprints that could indicate ancient life.
Planetary scientist Scott Hubbard, former president of NASA's Ames Research Center, believes that China's success in implementing this plan could represent a new "Sputnik moment," referring to the scientific shock caused by the Soviet Union's launch of the first artificial satellite in 1957. Hubbard said that China would not only capture global attention.
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