Only the Soviet Union and the United States have managed to get to Mars in one piece. The Soviet lander, the first, landed in 1971, but stopped communicating almost immediately thereafter. While several similar missions from other countries have failed, the United States has accomplished five successful surface landings.
“The Chinese are well aware that many people think they are simply repeating what others have done in the past,” said Joan S. Johnson-Freese, professor of national security affairs at the United States Naval War College.
“So they are very careful to do things that are not. 1, put them in the log books, like landing and the other side of the moon, and, no. 2, allow them to do science that other countries will be interested in. in, “he said.
NASA’s experience allows him greater ambitions. The Perseverance rover, for example, will carry a helicopter on board, trying for the first time to fly in the extremely thin Martian atmosphere. He will also collect samples for his eventual return to Earth.
“The United States is about building a Mercedes,” said Dr. Johnson-Freese. Rather, he added, the Chinese program “is just about driving a Ford. They don’t have many bells and whistles. “
Still, for China, if everything goes according to plan, and Tianwen-1 arrives on Mars in February, a stream of images of the planet will at least compete with those coming from Perseverance, which is slated to land in February. That will be an advertising coup in itself. Even if China is still catching up, it is trying what no other nation has been able to do except the United States, Dr. Goswami said.
“China realizes that in today’s world and tomorrow’s world, space will play a fundamental role in the way humanity is organized,” he said, “and that’s why they are seeing all their missions from that perspective. “
Claire Fu in Beijing contributed to the investigation.
