China planning for Mars after accomplishing Moon far side mission

China seems to be gearing up to send a probe to Mars next year, confirmed a top scientist of the agency. The space agency, successfully sent a probe to the far side of the moon, registering its name in the history books.

"Over the past 60 years, we've made a lot of achievements, but there is still a large distance from the world space powers. We must speed up our pace," Wu Weiren, chief designer of China's lunar exploration program, said. "Next year, we will launch a Mars probe, which will orbit around the Mars, land on it and probe it."

Besides, China will also send another probe to Moon that will gather samples and bring back to Earth. If everything goes according to the plan, China will become the third country after the USA and Russia to accomplish such a task.

China has successfully launched six crewed mission into space and launched two space labs into Earth's orbit, since 2003. The country also landed a rover on the moon in 2013. The space agency is also the first to land a rover on the far side of the moon.

"Due to the moon's rotation and revolution, the night on the moon is 14 days long. This reduces the temperature on the moon to minus 190 degrees Celsius, a temperature that all components, parts, and electronic components cannot stand," Wu said. "So we let it sleep for a while, ensuring it can spend the night safely. A few days ago, it woke up automatically ... and started to work. Currently, it is in normal condition."