BEIJING (Sputnik) – CASC consultant Ye Peijian said China hoped to collect samples of Mars’ soil and bring them back to Earth to conduct scientific analyses of the red planet’s structure and environment as well as to measure the possibilities for construction on Mars by 2030, the Xinhua news agency said on Wednesday.
Ye added that such missions were likely to open possibilities for China’s deep space exploration.
On December 27, the Chinese State Council Information Office (SCIO) said China was planning to conduct its first orbiting and roving exploration of Mars by 2020. A month later, China National Space Administration's (CNSA) Vice Director Wu Yanhua confirmed that China’s space exploration agenda included two missions to Mars and one to Jupiter.
