China is on track to launch its first Mars probe around 2020, and plans call for retrieving soil and rock samples from the red planet before 2030, said Zhang Rongqiao, the mission's chief designer. China aims to become the first country to conduct an orbital and surface exploration of Mars in a single mission, he said on Wednesday at an international forum on lunar and deep space exploration in Beijing. The Chinese Mars probe consists of three parts: orbiter, lander and rover. It will carry 13 scientific instruments - seven in the orbiter and six in the rover, he said. The orbiter will collect data on Mars' atmosphere, electromagnetic field, temperatures, surface landscape and other key scientific indicators, he said. The rover, weighing around 200 kilograms, will focus on collecting surface data, as well as testing other equipment to pave the way for future sample retrieval missions between 2025 and 2030. Overall, China's first Mars mission "is going smoothly and all according to plan", he added. Russia, India, the US and the European Space Agency have probes orbiting Mars, but only the US has successfully landed a rover and carried out surface missions. Around 2020, NASA, the ESA and the United Arab Emirates will also launch Mars probes. Before 2020, China will launch an unmanned landing mission to the moon named Chang'e 4, as well as a moon sample retrieval mission named Chang'e 5. In the following years, China will explore asteroids and smaller bodies to understand the solar system's origin and formation, and search for information on possible extraterrestrial life. China also plans to launch probes to Jupiter in 2036 and Uranus in 2046, Zhang said. However, these planets are so far away from the sun that light is too weak to power solar-powered probes. Chemical propulsion systems face long-term storage issues and an even harsher environment in space, he added. "Since Mars is close to Earth and shares relatively similar characteristics, it has become the priority target in deep space exploration," Zhang said. "Not only might Mars serve for future robotic or human settlement, studying its evolution can help us answer some of the key questions in cosmology that can have a profound impact on our life." One example is that NASA has confirmed that liquid water existed on Mars, "so is Mars the past or the future of Earth? Studying how Mars became a mostly barren, arid planet can help with our own environmental protection effort on Earth," Zhang said. rubber wristbands uksilicone rubber bands1 inch wide rubber bandscustom livestrong bracelets24 wristbands
A delegation made up of around 150 young people from a variety of sectors in Hong Kong visits the Palace Museum in Beijing to learn about Chinese history on Friday, the last day of their five-day visit to the mainland. [Photo/China Daily] Vice-Premier Han Zheng encouraged young people from Hong Kong on Friday to enhance their knowledge of the nation and pursue their careers considering both the special administrative region and the nation's development. Han, a member of the country's top political authority, the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, also called on the young people to contribute to the long-term prosperity and stability of Hong Kong and realize the Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Han made the remarks when meeting with a Hong Kong youth delegation in Beijing. The delegation of 150 included a cross section of the SAR's young people. Han said President Xi Jinping cares about youth development and has great expectations for Hong Kong's youth. A nation will prosper only when its young people thrive, Han said. Han also expressed his hope that the city's young people will be patriotic, persistent in realizing their dreams and committed to serving the SAR and the country. The delegation, of youth aged 18-35, was on a trip to Shenzhen, Wuhan and Beijing by high-speed rail this week with a special focus on the nation's booming innovation and technology industries. Delegation head Kenneth Fok Kai-kong called meeting Han of great significance as the young people learned that the country's development has set the stage for them to realize their dreams in a historic opportunity. Fok, who is a Hong Kong member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the country's top political advisory body, added that it would make Hong Kong's youth-related work more inspiring. Andy Tsang Hin-lam, a freshman history major at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said Han's remarks showed that the future of Hong Kong youth is not just limited to Hong Kong. He called on his peers in the special administrative region to broaden their horizons and take part in national development. Tang Chui-lee, a sophomore studying movie and TV production at Hong Kong Design Institute, said she learned that the country has provided great policies and resources, and young people should seize opportunities in a timely and proactive way.
