Deep Space Exploration Laboratory: According to the plan, the Tianwen-3 mission will complete the Mars landing and sample return through two launches around 2028 – Passionategeekz

Passionategeekz According to June 19, the Deep Space Exploration Laboratory issued a statement today saying that according to the plan, the Tianwen-3 mission will be Around 2028Through two launches, the Mars landing and sample return are completed separately. Around 2031Bring no less than 500 grams of Mars sample back to Earth. In addition, Tianwen-3 has determined three scientific goals, led by “exploring potential traces of life”, and designed a “full-chain detection strategy” covering the entire process of the task, including four key research modules: “where to pick”, “what to pick”, “how to pick”, and “how to use”.

The international authoritative academic journal Nature Astronomy published an article online on June 19, “In search of signs of life on Mars with China’s sample return mission Tianwen-3”, which systematically introduced the scientific goals of my country’s Mars sampling return mission (Tianwen-3), landing site selection, detection payload configuration and sample laboratory requirements, etc., and painted the development prospects for mankind’s upcoming first Mars sampling return.

The paper is a corresponding author by Academician Hou Zengqian, chief scientist of planetary exploration engineering, Researcher Liu Jizhong, chief designer of Tianwen-3, and Professor Wang Yuming, scientist in the field of planetary exploration engineering. The Deep Space Exploration Laboratory is the first author unit, and 12 units including the National Space Administration Lunar Exploration and Aerospace Engineering Center, the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, and the University of Science and Technology of China are jointly signed units.

According to reports, Mars has long been regarded as the planet with the most life potential outside the Earth. About 3.6 billion years ago, Mars entered a geological “freezing period” – volcanic activity weakened and the global magnetic field disappeared, gradually transforming into the current cold, dry and thin atmosphere. However, a number of scientific evidence shows that early Mars had a strong atmosphere, surface liquid water and active geological processes, and had the conditions suitable for life formation.

Over the past 60 years,More than 40 Mars exploration missions around the worldCharacteristics such as water-containing mineral distribution at the global scale, methane and organic matter in the landing site area were mapped, and these findings continuously strengthened the possibility of early habitability of Mars. But as of now, it is still an unsolved mystery whether there is any life on Mars.Returning to the in-situ sample and performing high-precision analysis in the laboratory becomes the key to solving puzzles。

Currently, the mission team is based on Mars orbit data and geological models.Carry out site selection demonstrations for landing areas that are driven by scientific goals and are safe and feasible in engineering. In terms of sampling methods, a combination of topsoil shoveling, deep drilling and drone-assisted grab will be adopted to ensure the diversity and scientific value of the samples. In order to ensure the integrity of extraterrestrial matter and the reliable detection of life traces, the mission will build a full-process sample original fidelity chain from the Martian surface to the analysis after it is collected, sealed, transported, and analyzed after returning to the earth.

Passionategeekz learned from the Deep Space Exploration Laboratory that all returned samples will be processed and analyzed in a planetary protection laboratory with high-level biosafety protection capabilities and an ultra-clean environment, focusing on finding possible traces of life and chemical characteristic signals. The mission will strictly abide by the Commission on Space Research (COSPAR) planetary protection policy, protect the Martian environment from earth biological pollution, prevent Martian samples from being affected by earth material pollution, and ensure the safety of the earth’s environment.

Passionategeekz attached to the paper link:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-025-02572-0

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