Sunday, July 04, 2021

COMRADES ON THE RED PLANET
China’s crewed mission to Mars with plans to build permanently inhabited base


MEGHANA KANDRAJULY 3, 2021

China plans to send a crew to Mars by 2033 and further plans to build a permanently inhabited base. They plan to extract resources from the red planet. On race with America, China has ambitious plans to reach Mars.


Image credits- CNET

China’s main rocket maker told in a space exploration conference that they planned for crew missions in 2033, 2035, 2037, 2040, and goes on. Prior to sending crew, robots will be sent to Mars to study the area, so they can plan for setting up a base area. This base will be used to extract resources and work on certain experiments.

For the crew to be able to use the resources, ways to produce oxygen, finding water underneath the surface, and generating electricity are some ways. China plans to work on developing such advanced technology. While the Americans already have technology like boosters to reused the rocket and come back. China is yet to have the rockets which can send a crew to space and bring them back.

By the end of 2030, the extracted samples and other materials will be acquired by China’s uncrewed mission to mars. NASA has already been working on sending crew by 2030. However, China seems to now make potential plans with their plans to send fleets to mars and return some fleet to earth. The major challenge lies with the ability to tap energy from heat and electricity. Also, time plays an important role. They plan to make these missions happen in a few hundred days of flight time.

China’s space missions

Last week, China sent astronauts to their unfinished space station. It has been there since 2016 and was left out till this recent involvement. Once it finished, it will be living quarters for China’s space crew. The current crew on the station will stay there for three months. Expected to be complete by 2022 end.

The main reason for China to have a different space station is because they were banned from NASA. Currently, the International Space Station is being backed by Russia, Canada, Japan, and Europe. Chief designer of China’s manned space program said, “At this current stage, we haven’t considered the participation of international astronauts, but their future participation will be guaranteed,”

Furthermore, China plans to set up a base on the Moon. Deploying robotic expeditions to asteroids and Jupiter form the South pole of the moon. China already sent a remote-controlled motorized rover to Mars. Thus China became the only nation so far to land vehicles on the red planet. In some ways, Chinese space technology advanced beyond expectations.

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