China’s ambitions have surged since May 2021, when its Tianwen-1 mission made it the second nation after the U.S. to land on Mars. The Zhurong rover explored Utopia Planitia, paving the way for bigger ...

China is positioning itself to take the lead in one of the most coveted goals in planetary science—returning samples from ...

Drilling two meters deep for sampling will be a world first,” said Hou Zengqian, China’s chief scientist on the Tianwen-3 mission, in a recent interview with China Science Daily. That one sentence ...

China’s Tianwen-3 Mars sample return mission could bring Red Planet rocks back to Earth as early as 2031—years ahead of competing U.S.-European efforts ...

The flowing celestial robes in Dunhuang murals, featuring flying goddesses, and the legendary attempt by Wan Hu to reach ...