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China-Russia Plan Joint Mission to Mars-by Michael Hoffman
Most nations with a capable space program appear to have their sights on Mars. Russia and China have agreed to launch a joint mission that would gather rock samples from Mars and the Red Planet's nearest moon in 2009. China will supply all necessary scientific and survey equipment for the shuttle, while Russia will launch the spacecraft. A leading scientist at the Chinese Research Institute of Space Technology made the announcement during a Chinese space technology forum. China wants to focus specifically on the Earth's moon and Mars over the next five years.
China is aggressively trying to become the nation on the forefront of space exploration. After sending astronaut Yang Liwei into space in 2003, China is third behind the United States and the Soviet Union to successfully put a man into space. The country sent two more astronauts into space last October, with another manned orbit scheduled sometime next year.
A former chief designer of the manned space project in China has mentioned that China needs to build its own small, efficient space station. The news for China's moon mission comes after the announcement that China would put a man on the moon by 2024, Japan's announcement to have a man on the moon by 2030 and that the US would put another man on the moon by 2020. It would indeed appear that the space race of yesteryear is back.
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