NASA is set to launch its fourth Mars rover mission today.<\/p>\n
The mission includes a micro-helicopter that will attempt the first flight on the red planet.<\/p>\n
But by the time it arrives around March next year, another rover from China will be preparing to touch down.<\/p>\n
Both missions have prompted a great deal of speculation about a new 21st century space race.<\/p>\n
Last time it was the world's two biggest superpowers, Russia and the United States, competing to send a man to the Moon.<\/p>\n
But this time another major superpower has entered the mix.<\/p>\n
Perseverance as the US rover is called is part of an ambitious long-term NASA program to capture ground samples and transport them back to earth, where they can be studied in unprecedented detail.<\/p>\n
The mini-helicopter experiment aims to see whether it's possible to carry out close-range aerial surveys of Mars covering more ground than a rover could.<\/p>\n
China's mission, on the other hand, is ambitious in other ways.<\/p>\n
NASA, China and the United Arab Emirates are going to Mars. Here's a quick look at each of the missions.<\/p>\n
The Tianwen-1 probe named after a classic poem titled 'heavenly questions' blasted off from China's southern island Hainan last week and seeks to narrow the technological gap with the US by decades.<\/p>\n
China's military-led space program is aiming to achieve three 'firsts' a Mars orbiter, a lander and a rover all in one mission.<\/p>\n
\"China has now joined the Mars space club,\" Professor of Aerospace Engineering at Tsinghua University in Beijing, Fu Song, told the ABC.<\/p>\n
\"But China doesn't want to compete with the US the US has the most advanced technology.\"<\/p>\n
The Tianwen-1 probe is the latest in a steady program of space missions helping China become a major space power.<\/p>\n
In 2003, China became only the third nation to successfully carry out human spaceflight.<\/p>\n
Since then it has launched two space laboratory modules, called Tiangong.<\/p>\n
And in 2018, China became the only country to successfully land a probe on the far side of the moon.<\/p>\n
The mission was a technologically difficult feat given communication signals with Earth have to be bounced off satellites.<\/p>\n
The various missions aim to build towards China independently operating a manned space station in low orbit within a few years.<\/p>\n
If successful, it may become the only space lab, with doubts over whether the International Space Station will be replaced once it is decommissioned later this decade.<\/p>\n
China's lunar goals over the next decade also include the possible establishment of a science research post on the south pole of the moon.<\/p>\n
The project will potentially be built using 3D printing technology, although public details are scarce.<\/p>\n
\"Success in today's mission forms the vital base for success in our next missions,\" deputy director of China's Space Administration Wu Yanhua told State TV after the Tianwen-1 launch.<\/p>\n
\"If the entire program is successful, it will be a major milestone for China.\"<\/p>\n
Analysts say the rapid strides China's space scientists and engineers are making doesn't mean the dawn of a new space 'race'. At least, not yet, anyway.<\/p>\n
Are you across the Red Planet or will our quiz leave you red-faced?<\/p>\n
Instead, it suggests we are about to enter a new 'golden era' of space exploration.<\/p>\n
Another entrant to Mars exploration the United Arab Emirates also recently launched an orbiting satellite with the technological help of the US.<\/p>\n
Along with China, the mission marks a significant change in the global space field, which has so far been dominated by the US and Russia.<\/p>\n
But landing on Mars remains the most difficult challenge.<\/p>\n
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And as such, according to Dean Cheng a China space and military analyst at US think tank The Heritage Foundation we are still some way off comparing China's space program to the US.<\/p>\n
\"What this does is it puts China on the map as only the third nation to send a probe to Mars,\" Mr Cheng told the ABC.<\/p>\n
\"But you are comparing apples and kumquats. This is a major moment for Chinese space science it's their first interplanetary probe going beyond the Earth's moon system.<\/p>\n
\"But we have to keep in mind the US was able to land probes on Mars back in the 1970s and along with the Russians had Martian orbiters before that.\"<\/p>\n
Despite the recent successes of China's space missions, experts also warn the chances of pulling off all three goals of the Tianwen-1 mission will be difficult.<\/p>\n
\"Only NASA has managed to land safely on the Martian surface,\" said space journalist Andrew Jones, who is monitoring China's space program.<\/p>\n
\"The Europeans have failed, the Russians and Soviets have failed, everything has to go perfectly.<\/p>\n
\"For a first attempt, it's a tall order.\"<\/p>\n
By contrast, Perseverance will be the fifth rover to land on Mars after missions in 1997, 2004 (which landed two rovers) and 2012.<\/p>\n
The US banned cooperation with China on space in 2011 due to concerns China would gain access to American technologies and apply them to military use.<\/p>\n
Beijing has long argued against the ban and has largely cooperated with Russia and Germany instead.<\/p>\n
The US restriction highlights that despite its technological lead, competition in space will be a major area of rivalry in future.<\/p>\n
One advantage China has is that its space program isn't subject to the whims of changing political administrations.<\/p>\n
\"At the moment, at least with the current administration, the US is aiming to go to the moon with astronauts this decade,\" Jones said.<\/p>\n
\"That's something which is way beyond the reach of Chinese capabilities.\"<\/p>\n
The question is, for how long?<\/p>\n
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Read more:<\/p>\n
China's Mars mission is a glimpse into its space ambitions. But we're not in a space race yet - ABC News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" NASA is set to launch its fourth Mars rover mission today. The mission includes a micro-helicopter that will attempt the first flight on the red planet Continue reading