China's first Mars rover drives onto red planet's surface

[Yongpeng Sun-Tastaufen]

wow...congrats to all the Chinese ...exciting times ahead

Mars sample return. First ever for humanity.

 

[casual]

Mars sample return. First ever for humanity.

Would need a bigger rocket for that

 

[bshifter]

I do not think the next Mars Mission will be sample return one. This is not the Moon where a small module can lift off from the surface. For a sample return mission to succeed we need to land a rocket on Mars, a robot that can take the collected Mars samples and put it inside the rocket. This is a very difficult mission something for after 2030s.

 

[Yongpeng Sun-Tastaufen]

Would need a bigger rocket for that

Long March 9 can do it.

 

[siegecrossbow]

I do not think the next Mars Mission will be sample return one. This is not the Moon where a small module can lift off from the surface. For a sample return mission to succeed we need to land a rocket on Mars, a robot that can take the collected Mars samples and put it inside the rocket. This is a very difficult mission something for after 2030s.

Main challenge for Mars sample return is not lifting off from Mars, but maintaining a spacecraft capable of returning to Earth in Mars orbit for several months before it could fetch the sample and return home. Everything has to take place without a hitch.

 

[Yongpeng Sun-Tastaufen]

Main challenge for Mars sample return is not lifting off from Mars, but maintaining a spacecraft capable of returning to Earth in Mars orbit for several months before it could fetch the sample and return home. Everything has to take place without a hitch.

Russians had attempted Mars sample return but they did not have the reliable autodocking required to do so. China has reliable autodocking. So it is not a problem when Long March 9 is available for Tianwen 2.

Mars 5M - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[casual]

Russians had attempted Mars sample return but they did not have the reliable autodocking required to do so. China has reliable autodocking. So it is not a problem when Long March 9 is available for Tianwen 2.

Mars 5M - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

there's 3 earth mars transfer windows before 2030s and I'm pretty sure China will have planned missions during those windows. Tianwen 2 will most likely be another rover mission.

 

[Yongpeng Sun-Tastaufen]

there's 3 earth mars transfer windows before 2030s and I'm pretty sure China will have planned missions during those windows. Tianwen 2 will most likely be another rover mission.

Sample return. China ain't wasting precious time. After the Russian rocket fiasco in 2011 China decided no orbiter before rover.

 

[casual]

Sample return. China ain't wasting precious time. After the Russian rocket fiasco in 2011 China decided no orbiter before rover.

sample return would have to wait until at least 2031. are you saying china won't have any more mars missions until then?

 

[Beast]

sample return would have to wait until at least 2031. are you saying china won't have any more mars missions until then?

It can be fasten depend on state funding. For example, the 500 tons rocket engine is already available. The most critical component.

The Chinese also successfully fabricate the 10m diameter ring of the rocket body.

China also demonstrated the landing on Mars and lunar moon sample return. Everything is in place and just depend on Xi whether he want CNSA to take the huge leap for China space future. If China pour in huge fund and large manpower involved into this project, By 2023 if the LM9 rocket is ready. China can carry out the Mars sample return mission by 2024.

 

[F-22Raptor]

It can be fasten depend on state funding. For example, the 500 tons rocket engine is already available. The most critical component.

The Chinese also successfully fabricate the 10m diameter ring of the rocket body.

China also demonstrated the landing on Mars and lunar moon sample return. Everything is in place and just depend on Xi whether he want CNSA to take the huge leap for China space future. If China pour in huge fund and large manpower involved into this project, By 2023 if the LM9 rocket is ready. China can carry out the Mars sample return mission by 2024.

China has 0% chance of carrying out a Mars sample return mission by 2024.


US already has Perseverance on Mars to collect samples, but won’t launch Part 2 until 2026.

 

[Beast]

China has 0% chance of carrying out a Mars sample return mission by 2024.


US already has Perseverance on Mars to collect samples, but won’t launch Part 2 until 2026.

It just whether the state wanted to do it anot. We have all the unmanned sample return tech and we have perfect mars landing. Nothing is impossible.

 

[Yongpeng Sun-Tastaufen]

China has 0% chance of carrying out a Mars sample return mission by 2024.


US already has Perseverance on Mars to collect samples, but won’t launch Part 2 until 2026.

2026 is a very ambitious goal. The US still needs to develop moon sample return tech first before the US can develop Mars sample return tech. China can simply build upon the experience of Chang'e 5 moon sample return to do Mars sample return.

 

[Beast]

2026 is a very ambitious goal. The US still needs to develop moon sample return tech first before the US can develop Mars sample return tech. China can simply build upon the experience of Chang'e 5 moon sample return to do Mars sample return.

Fully agree with you. US never demonstrated such complex unmanned mission in space. There are so many steps during the sample return that can be wrong which is why Russia opt for direct return instead of docking in orbit. But that will be at expense of a very small sample return size.

 

[F-22Raptor]

It just whether the state wanted to do it anot. We have all the unmanned sample return tech and we have perfect mars landing. Nothing is impossible.

It will be the 2030s at the earliest before China can carry out a Mars sample return.


NASA already has Perseverance on Mars to collect samples. 2026 is the planned launch for sample return with return to Earth in 2031. Mars sample return is a lot harder than the Moon.