http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/China_To_Launch_Mars_Probe_In_2009_999.html

China To Launch Mars Probe In 2009

The Mars probe Yinghuo-1, which has a designed life span of two years, will orbit the planet for a year and relay back the first images of the planet taken by a Chinese satellite.

by Staff Writers

Beijing (PTI) Dec 05, 2007

China, which sent its first lunar orbiter to probe the moon's surface recently, will launch its maiden Mars probe onboard a Russian rocket in October 2009, state media reported. Yinghuo-1 would reach the pre-set circling orbit and beam the first images of the red planet in September 2010, the state-run China Daily said, quoting a senior scientist.

The prototype of the probe was now being subjected to a series of experiments and its compatibility with the Russian spacecraft would be tested in May next, Chen Changya, a researcher with the Shanghai Institute of Satellite Engineering, said.

The 110-kg micro-satellite would travel 350 million km in 11 months before entering the planet's orbit, Chen, who is in charge of the project developing the Mars probe told a forum on space technology in Shanghai, the newspaper said.

The Mars probe, which has a designed life span of two years, will orbit the planet for a year and relay back the first images of the planet taken by a Chinese satellite. The probe would land on the Martian moon and return to earth with soil samples, it said.

China's lunar probe, Chang'e-1, launched on October 24, travelled 380,000 kms before circling the moon. On November 26, China had published the first picture of the moon captured by the 2,350 kg satellite.

Chang'e-1 will make a three-dimensional survey of the moon surface and analyse abundance and distribution of elements on the lunar surface.

Source: Press Trust of India