China says they will be on Mars by 2020

http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/28/asia/china-space-program-white-paper/index.html

"China's ambitious and fast-growing space program is targeting a landing on the dark side of the moon by 2018, and reaching Mars before the end of the decade."

I believe them. China's manufacturing strength reminds me of the US for the thirty years after WWII.

 

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When the article says: "We will be on Mars by 2020", what they mean is China aims to have sent a robot vehicle to Mars orbit by that time.

But that doesn't sound quite so dramatic.........

 

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Yes, that's how I read it. It still sounds impressive to me. They also plan to be equal to Russia, the USA, and the ESA by 2030.

 

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They also plan to have a Mir-sized space station in LEO in the next few years. Also impressive.

 

The "dark side of the moon"? I take it CNN employs news editors with no knowledge of astronomy.

 

You'd be surprised how many people believe that. (Let's hope the Chinese don't believe that.)

As far as landing on the "far" side of the Moon, I don't see any techinical problem with that, other than having to rely on a relay satelllite for comms. And maybe the far side has fewer mares so picking a landing spot may be a bit tricky. Satellite pics would be helpful for determining a landing site -- does China have a comms/photo satellite already in Moon orbit? Or plans for one?