Can China go to Mars ? Dr. Zubrin will talk in August 06

EuroLauncher · 2006-03-05 11:53:07

I've heard some talk about how the talented Mr.Zubrin will be speaking to the Chinese on space exploration during a trip to China this year. Of course we all know the Chinese have a great history of building and invention but its potential as a Space power was only really first noticed after it launched the propaganda satellite 'East Is Red' back in 1970, these types of military/propaganda sats were common place by many during the Cold-war.

Today China has become a more free and open market, they do great trade with the USA and Europe. The Chinese have a strong economy and are now launching many foreign satellites for Australia, Brazil, the United States, ESA and the Philippines. The recent Shenzhou program has been developing for the past years, and in 2003 China became the third nation to launch a human into orbit. Shenzhou6 followed in 2005 which saw 2 more astronauts fly spending 5 days in orbit. The Chinese have plans to use the Long March rockets to launch robotic craft to the Moon and launch their own space-station. China has been using the the Long March II or CZ-2 for its manned missions, this rocket is good for manned flight to LEO but for Mars they might need something bigger - however I have also seen plans for a ChangZheng-5 and LongMarch-6 launcher.

do you think China has Mars plans ?

EuroLauncher · 2006-03-05 12:12:18

some links, for those of you who may not have already read

Chang'e - the Chinese Moon mission
http://www.newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=4170
Robert Zubrin on the Moon & Mars
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/spacetravel-05v.html
China eyeing new HL
http://www.newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2565

Grypd · 2006-03-05 14:35:34

Can China do a manned mission to Mars : Yes
Can it do it anytime soon : No

China has taken the steady footsteps in its progress it is looking at the long view but there is a lot holding China back and one of these is lack of of indigenous knowledge. It launched its Long March and Shenzhou from information garnered from the Russians and a lot of the space technology of China is copies or straight purchases from Russia. This information was garnered when Russia was in a seriously bad economic situation and so it came relatively cheaply, actually China benefitted militarily and economically from Russias economic doldrums. This information transfer has stopped now that Russia is back on its feet and is beginning to feel its own feet. China now has to rely on its own internal engineers and though she has a lot of engineer graduates they lack experience.

The next problem for China is simple cost. China has a lot of things it must spend its cash on and though China is reaping rewards from its financial boom it is only increasing the demand for basic infrastructure increases and the as of yesterday promises given to Chinas influential countryside majority. Space though a great morale booster and a way of saying we are a big nation respect us it does not mean they have the billions to spend in developing a Mars manned programme.

EuroLauncher · 2006-03-05 15:33:59

Just to put Mars in perspective for some - and some number of craft that got to Mars.

USA/NASA+JPL
The United States is the king of the red planet, although they had failures such as Mariner-3, Mars Polar Lander and the 1992-MarsObserver the USA hold the record for successful Mars missions. There have been many great missions like MGS, Mars Pathfinder, Viking 1 lander, the Viking 2 lander, the Mars Odyssey and we have the future MRO.
http://www.newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1590

Russia's partial success with the Red Planet
The Russian's had much better results with their Rovers on the Moon and Venus missions but got some fair results from Mars, most of their missions were a total failure except for MarsIII lander was a successful lander however contact was soon lost, while the Phobos-2 mission produced some good results
http://www.newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1583

The Japanese attempt
Japan's attempt with Nozomi was their big journey to the red planet, the Japan mission was scheduled to arrive at Mars on October 1999. They started ok but soon had poor results with loss of fuel, and later the JAXA/NASDA craft was cooked by solar flares, this Japanese space probe became too damaged to ever reach Mars. Japan has declared plans for a lunar base but they have no experience with manned flight.
http://www.newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1577

Europe/ESA
The European exploration of Mars can be seen with both Mars Express and the Beagle2 lander, Beagle is lost or destroyed on the red-planet and attempts to contact the lander failed. However the Mars Express Orbiter has been doing very well taking pics and confirmed the presence of water ice and carbon dioxide. Europe plans for Soyuz in Kourou and ESA have plans to explore Mars with the Aurora mission but the ESA has no experience with manned spaceflight.
http://www.newmars.com/forums/viewtopic … 69&start=0

Grypd · 2006-03-05 19:22:44

And China is forced to put its next manned mission back by 6 months

China forced to put back next mission by six months

SpaceNut · 2006-03-05 22:02:15

Another source that indicates the same delay.
Space Walk Docking Planned

They hopefully are tying to fix why there last one had to come down early...

EuroLauncher · 2006-03-08 00:06:28

Moon probe program to boost innovation
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006- … 258055.htm
China's moon-probe program will pave the way for the country's high-tech breakthroughs and innovation and will help train a large group of top scientists, a senior space scientist said here Saturday.

Ouyang Ziyuan, an academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences and also the country's chief scientist on the moon-probe program, said at a symposium Saturday that China will benefit from its probe of the moon, particularly in the field of scientific innovation.

The moon probe demands lots of advanced technologies in the aspects of rocket communications, observing and control, remote sensing and manufacturing of lots of complicated instruments, the scientist said.

Martin_Tristar · 2006-03-08 03:59:37

I think that if china doesn't follow the methodology of Moon then Mars approach and go direct to Mars and use the Direct Plan by Zubrin as a model then the Chinese could have a base in operation a few years ahead then the American, Russians and Europeans.

That would increase the Chinese position in the World, Economically, Socially and put the world on notice of the Chinese powerhouse is here and to stay.

PurduesUSAFguy · 2006-03-08 10:19:39

I think that if china doesn't follow the methodology of Moon then Mars approach and go direct to Mars and use the Direct Plan by Zubrin as a model then the Chinese could have a base in operation a few years ahead then the American, Russians and Europeans.
That would increase the Chinese position in the World, Economically, Socially and put the world on notice of the Chinese powerhouse is here and to stay.

Which is why it can not be allowed to happen. The chinese have a long way to go between here and Mars, although not so long if we keep happily handing over tech to the ChiComs. I hope if they get near (assuming there isn't a sino-american war between now and 2030, a state of affairs that I find unlikley) we get our act together and beat them to the party on the red planet. Mars is red enough without the PRC on it.

Worse comes to worse I'm liking the idea of deploying ASAT missiles more and more... :twisted:

Yang Liwei Rocket · 2006-03-08 10:44:11

Mars is not an easy planet but China should send a robot craft to Mars

China Start Mars Exploration?
http://www.china.org.cn/english/scitech/69510.htm

EuroLauncher · 2006-03-08 21:25:21

And China is forced to put its next manned mission back by 6 months
China forced to put back next mission by six months

some delays for China, well now they aren't moving so fast

but their robo-Moon craft looks very good

EuroLauncher · 2006-03-25 13:32:03

A lot talk about Chinese is going on and there is a lot of chat on the web about this one

Thoughts on Mars Direct
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/65/1
Dr Bob talking to the Chinese !
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/forums … 14&posts=2
Zubrin in China
http://whatonmars.com/?q=node/1789
Mars for six billion dollars?
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/oped-01m-overview.html

Mars_B4_Moon · 2006-03-28 19:36:57

China can not go to Mars

Grypd · 2006-03-29 10:42:07

China can not go to Mars

Not soon anyway

EuroLauncher · 2006-08-06 10:22:27

China can not go to Mars
Not soon anyway

China announces plans to expand its ambitious space exploration program to Mars. The official Xinhua news agency says Beijing intends to launch its first lunar probe next year.
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7004296759
The deputy head of China's space program said in June the country would place a man on the moon by 2024. Xinhua says in the next five years, "China will on the basis of its Moon probes actively plan deep space exploration, focusing on lunar and Mars exploration."

flashgordon · 2006-08-06 22:57:04

it almost sounds to me that a major reason China is slow to act on lots of science and technology is because they are constantly reanalyzing based on every more data that comes in. You could say that is a bad thing, but, in a way, it is a measure of just when humanity will be ready to green light and go out into space, or if it is even possible.

Grypd · 2006-08-07 12:21:14

it almost sounds to me that a major reason China is slow to act on lots of science and technology is because they are constantly reanalyzing based on every more data that comes in. You could say that is a bad thing, but, in a way, it is a measure of just when humanity will be ready to green light and go out into space, or if it is even possible.

China has a problem when it comes down to basic science in that plagaraism is almost endemic in the country. New ideas are just not coming out.

Add to basics that scientists are paid poorly and you have the situation where space researchers are part time scientists and the rest of the time they work as farmers.

China has yet to put down concrete goals and it is unwilling to do so when it can lead to propoganda failures (where someone gets there first) It has a lot to learn and more importantly gain experience before she can go for Mars missions or even to race the USA back to the Moon. This means she would rather cooperate and garner knowledge and experience from partners in things like the ISS than try on her own. And that is why these public announcements come out they want to be invited into the fold of ISS partners.

publiusr · 2006-08-11 16:13:59

Like here, the scientists play second fiddle to the military.

Sigh.

Mars_B4_Moon · 2006-08-23 18:39:16

China can not go to Mars
Not soon anyway
China announces plans to expand its ambitious space exploration program to Mars. The official Xinhua news agency says Beijing intends to launch its first lunar probe next year.
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7004296759
The deputy head of China's space program said in June the country would place a man on the moon by 2024. Xinhua says in the next five years, "China will on the basis of its Moon probes actively plan deep space exploration, focusing on lunar and Mars exploration."

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#1 2006-03-05 11:53:07

Re: Can China go to Mars ? Dr. Zubrin will talk in August 06

#2 2006-03-05 12:12:18

Re: Can China go to Mars ? Dr. Zubrin will talk in August 06

#3 2006-03-05 14:35:34

Re: Can China go to Mars ? Dr. Zubrin will talk in August 06

#4 2006-03-05 15:33:59

Re: Can China go to Mars ? Dr. Zubrin will talk in August 06

#5 2006-03-05 19:22:44

Re: Can China go to Mars ? Dr. Zubrin will talk in August 06

#6 2006-03-05 22:02:15

Re: Can China go to Mars ? Dr. Zubrin will talk in August 06

#7 2006-03-08 00:06:28

Re: Can China go to Mars ? Dr. Zubrin will talk in August 06

#8 2006-03-08 03:59:37

Re: Can China go to Mars ? Dr. Zubrin will talk in August 06

#9 2006-03-08 10:19:39

Re: Can China go to Mars ? Dr. Zubrin will talk in August 06

#10 2006-03-08 10:44:11

Re: Can China go to Mars ? Dr. Zubrin will talk in August 06

#11 2006-03-08 21:25:21

Re: Can China go to Mars ? Dr. Zubrin will talk in August 06

#12 2006-03-25 13:32:03

Re: Can China go to Mars ? Dr. Zubrin will talk in August 06

#13 2006-03-28 19:36:57

Re: Can China go to Mars ? Dr. Zubrin will talk in August 06

#14 2006-03-29 10:42:07

Re: Can China go to Mars ? Dr. Zubrin will talk in August 06

#15 2006-08-06 10:22:27

Re: Can China go to Mars ? Dr. Zubrin will talk in August 06

#16 2006-08-06 22:57:04

Re: Can China go to Mars ? Dr. Zubrin will talk in August 06

#17 2006-08-07 12:21:14

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#18 2006-08-11 16:13:59

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#19 2006-08-23 18:39:16

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Re: Can China go to Mars ? Dr. Zubrin will talk in August 06

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