China plans Mars sample return mission with 6-legged drone, robot-helicopter - Interesting Engineering

Panorama of Mars acquired by China's Zhurong Mars rover.

CNS 

Tianwen-3, China's forthcoming Mars sample return mission, is beginning to take shape as more information comes to light. 

China intends to use its Long March 5 rockets to launch two vehicle stacks to Mars in a tandem launch sometime in the future, maybe as early as 2028, according to multiple media reports on Saturday. 

Slides from the presentation that were posted on the Chinese social media platform Weibo show a little drone that resembles a helicopter and some sort of six-legged robot, both next to details about sample collecting for Tianwen-3.

"China just might add a helicopter and 6-legged robot to Mars sample-return mission," said a Space news article.

However, "it's not yet clear whether China or the United States and Europe will be the first to bring a piece of the Red Planet back to Earth."

The combined lander and launcher is intended to land on the surface of Mars, gather and store up to 500 grams of material, and then launch back into space, as per presentation by Liu Jizhong and Hou Zengqian's presentation at the International Conference of Deep Space Sciences. 

The landing and two-stage ascent vehicles will be in one stack, while the orbiter and return craft will be in the other stack.

Meanwhile, the orbiter will circle Mars patiently, awaiting rendezvous and sample transfer with the return vehicle that will store the sample for transport to Earth.

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2023-04-30 09:48:00Z
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