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A press event was held in Beijing, China that signaled the launching of a public competitive campaign to get a name and logo for the country’s first robotic Mars probe – due to launch in 2020.

During the press event, the external appearance of the Mars craft was revealed.

According to Zhang Rongqiao, chief designer of China’s Mars exploration mission:

“What we’re aiming at now is to launch the voyager in July or August of 2020,” Zhang said. “Our overall concept for this mission is to do it in two stages. Stage One is to materialize orbiting Mars. Stage Two is to land on Mars to collect samples from it, hopefully done before 2030.”

China's robotic Mars mission for 2020 will drawn upon its Moon landing technology. Credit: SASTIND

China’s robotic Mars mission for 2020 will drawn upon its Moon landing technology.
Credit: SASTIND

Cultural domain

Liu Jizhong, deputy director-general of China’s Mars exploration mission, director of China’s lunar exploration program and space engineering, added:

“All the Chinese are looking up to the country’s first Mars exploration mission which is an innovative engineering project. China’s Mars exploration mission has also drawn attention from the international community. This competitive public campaign to name and logo the voyager can be seen as side-step in the cultural domain.”

Credit: CCTV/China Spaceflight.com

Credit: CCTV/China Spaceflight.com

The public campaign announced August 23 will solicit from the country’s citizens a name and a logo for the Mars craft and is being hosted by China’s State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense.

Competitive entries will be accepted for two months prior to final selection of the Mars vehicle’s name and mission logo.

To view the press event, go to this CCTV-Plus video:

http://cd-pv.news.cctvplus.com/2016/0823/8030398_Preview_3261.mp4

A YouTube video on the Chinese Mars effort can be found here at:

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