China鈥檚 space program sets sights on Mars
Print Edition
CHINA has the capability to explore Mars, a top scientist with the country’s lunar probe mission said yesterday.
The country has the tracking control and communications technology to send a probe to circle and land on the Red Planet, said Ye Peijian, chief scientist with the Chang’e-3 program.
Chang’e-3, part of the second phase of the country’s lunar program, landed on the moon in December, along with China’s first moon rover, Yutu.
Ye, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the country’s top political advisory body, said in recent years China has improved ground stations and tackled many problems concerning control and communications, especially during the second phase of its lunar program.
“But the time to go (to Mars) will depend on the country’s budget and decisions,” the scientist added.
It takes about 10 months for a probe to reach Mars.
Ye’s thoughts are also closer to home with preparations for the 2017 launch of China’s lunar probe Chang’e-5 proceeding to plan.
Chang’e-5, part of China’s third-phase lunar program, is expected to bring back moon rock samples to Earth, a move that Ye said would be “a historic moment” for the country.
Ye also revealed that a driving unit malfunction disrupted attempts by the Yutu moon rover to “sleep” during the lunar night in January. Experts feared it may never function again, but Yutu “awoke” on February 12, two days behind schedule.
Yutu is now in another period of dormancy, and the overall state of the rover is not encouraging, Ye said.
“We’re all hoping it will be able to wake up again,” said Ye ahead of the annual session of the CPPCC, which opens tomorrow.
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