China is heading to Mars and to prepare for the journey in 2020, the country released the proposed design of its Mars Rover.
China's Mars probe is set to launch in 2020 and the country is committed to making it happen as scheduled. The world saw the first glimpse of China's innovative Mars rover in Beijing.
The Chinese State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry National Defence (SASTIND) released the images of the new Mars Rover. The 200-kilogram six-wheeled rover is designed to scour the surface of Mars. Like NASA's Curiosity rover, the Chinese Mars rover hopes to find data regarding the composition of Martian soil and the possibility of liquid water on the red planet.
China's Mars rover will be sent to the red planet using a lander and a probe that is capable of carrying 13 payloads, a camera and radar designed to last for a three-month mission in mind-2020.
"The lander will separate from the orbiter at the end of a journey of around seven months and touch down in a low latitude area in the northern hemisphere of Mars where the rover will explore the surface," Zhang Rongqiao, chief architect of the Mars mission, said in a news report.
Chinese authorities are promoting the probe by initiating a campaign and asking the public to compete against each other in naming the rover and in creating a fitting logo for the mission. China already expressed the intent to become the next space giant and the words are surprisingly followed by rapid launches of space programs and equipment. The country is planning a manned space mission this October and to land on the moon in 2036.
"Becoming an aerospace power has always been a dream we've been striving for," Chinese President Xi Jinping said in a statement.
Recently, China launched a quantum-enabled satellite, according to a report by BBC. It only means that the country is decided to rival with other nations currently dominating the space industry.