From the Earth to the Moon

While the Jade Rabbit moon rover sleeps on the moon, other dreams are taking wing.

Preparation for the 2017 launch of lunar probe Chang'e-5 is going as planned, said Ye Peijia, a top scientist with the Chang'e-3 lunar probe mission.

Chang'e-5, as part of China's third-phase lunar program, is expected to bring back moonrock samples to Earth, which Ye believes will be "a historic moment".

The more sophisticated Chang'e-5, including unmanned sampling and returning, requires breakthroughs in moon surface takeoff technology, sampling encapsulation, rendezvous and docking in lunar orbit, as well as high-speed Earth reentry.

To make sure the mission is a success, a Chang'e-5 test probe will be launched this year to rehearse the route, Ye disclosed.

Chang'e-2, launched on Oct. 1, 2010, is now China's first man-made asteroid, about 70 million km from Earth and heading into deep space. Ye said the ship could travel as far as 300 million km from Earth. "New discoveries cannot be ruled out," Ye said.

"We plan to send a manned mission to the moon. The Earth is our cradle, and humanity will go out from here someday. The moon is the nearest: if we cannot land on it, where else can we go?" he said.

THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES

China now has the capability to explore Mars by sending a probe to circle the planet and land, Ye said. The only question is when.

Humanity has launched more than 40 missions to planets in the solar system and over half of them have failed.

Zhang Bonan said that the logjam for a manned mission to Mars is still the technology.

"Exploration is the ultimate target of human beings. If we cannot break through the technological bottleneck, the future for the whole species will be bleak."

The life of Earth is limited compared with that of the whole universe, Zhang said.

"The future lies beyond the Earth," he said.

"We know so little about the Milky Way, and the whole universe is even more vast. There's too much for us to know," he said, adding that the "unknown" is the biggest drive for humans to explore.

Xinhua reporters Ren Qinqin, Hu Xing and Yan Qilei also contributed to the story.