Chinese scientists have released data on further plans to explore the planets of the Solar System. These include launching several missions that could potentially find life beyond Earth.
China’s future missions to search for extraterrestrial life
An interesting slide that is part of a presentation by the China National Space Administration’s (CNSA) Deep Space Exploration Laboratory has recently appeared on the web. It talks about future space missions that aim to search for extraterrestrial life.
China very rarely shares details of its future missions in advance, so even this small piece of information is significant. After all, there is no reason to distrust the information on this slide. After all, it shows quite a few missions previously known about.
China’s first mission to search for alien life is to be Tianwen-3. This vehicle should be launched as early as 2028, it will reach Mars and take soil samples on its surface. They will be taken to Earth and try to find traces of life in the lab.
Next, Tianwen-4 is scheduled to be launched around 2029. This mission will head to Jupiter and orbit its moon Calisto, which may have an ocean of liquid water. Also in 2030, a realistic model of the Earth’s environment should be created in laboratory conditions.
A mission to collect and return samples from the upper atmosphere is planned for 2033. A Mars research station will be created in 2038, and a nuclear-powered vehicle is due to travel to Neptune in 2039. It should explore both the planet and its moon, Triton.
Are these plans realistic?
How realistic these plans are is hard to say. On the one hand, there is no reason to doubt that China will try to realize Tianwen-3. This is a very difficult but real challenge that has been discussed many times.
But there are serious questions about Tianwen-4, because earlier it was a question of two probes to be launched together, but now it is only one. This could mean that the project has still not gotten out of the discussion or design stage.
The mission to Neptune is the one with the most questions. The issue here is no longer even about the very reaching of the most distant of the major planets in the Solar System, or potential ocean life on Triton. The nuclear engine itself will be a real sensation, because even for the U.S. this technology is a goal that has been delayed and postponed for years.
According to spacenews.com
