China Joins the Space Race

The Chinese astronauts Jing Haipeng (L) and Chen Dong at the send-off ceremony of a space mission in Jiuquan, China.

The race to get off planet earth and into the unknown mystery of space is not a new concept. The United States and Russia competed to be first for decades. Now the underdog, China, is breaking the bank to take gold in the space race.

Within the next decade, China is planning on completing a moon landing as well as exploring Mars. They have recently unveiled the design of their space probe and rover scheduled to depart for Mars in 2020. The United States is the only country to successfully land a rover on the red planet, however several other countries and organizations have made successful attempts to orbit Mars. China is the fifth country  to orbit the planet after the U.S, Russia/USSR, Europe, and India.

China's current plan is to launch its first Mars probe in 2020. The probe will bring back samples from Mars, explore the Jupiter system, conduct research into scientific questions like the origin and evolution of the solar system, and look for the answer to the question everyone keeps asking, “Is there life out there?”

China had a late start in the race to space. The Chinese space program was founded in 1956 and has since been disrupted by Mao’s cultural revolution. Their first satellite did not leave the earth's surface until 1970, just after the United States had the first man walk on the moon. In the decades following, China has spent billions of dollars on research and training. Since the early 2000s, China has, among other things, landed a rover on the moon and they plan on continuing their progress.

China's reason behind wanting to reach Mars is to demonstrate that their long march into the leading ranks in space exploration is finally complete. By finally achieving the goal of reaching Mars, they would show that they are joining the space race for real.  

By: Emma Natedal, Writer.