China shoots for Mars landing in six years  

“嫦娥之父”歐陽(yáng)自遠(yuǎn)：中國(guó)預(yù)計(jì)6年后登陸火星

有著“嫦娥之父”之稱的中科院院士、中國(guó)月球探測(cè)工程首席科學(xué)家歐陽(yáng)自遠(yuǎn)在昨天第22屆國(guó)際天文館學(xué)會(huì)大會(huì)的開幕式上透露，我國(guó)即將開展深空探測(cè)，其中預(yù)計(jì)2020年著陸火星，2030年實(shí)現(xiàn)火星采樣返回。 [查看全文]

(ECNS) -- China is planning to send an exploration rover to Mars by 2020, the Beijing News reported, citing Ouyang Ziyuan, chief scientist of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program.

Ouyang said on Monday that China plans to conduct deep space exploration, targeting Mars and the solar system.

An exploration rover and orbiter will attempt to find out if life exists on Mars, Ouyang said, adding that samples from the planet would be brought back to Earth by 2030.

China has plans for solar system exploration as well, according to Ouyang. Goals include looking for life signs on planets and researching the system's origins, formation and evolution.

Over the past years, China has made many achievements in exploring outer space. Tiangong-1, China's first space station, was launched in 2011. Last year, the country sent its first unmanned lunar rover Yutu to the Moon.

The Chinese Lunar Exploration Program is known as the Chang'e program. All spacecraft in the program are named after Chang'e, the goddess of the Moon in Chinese mythology.