China plans more planetary endeavors: scientist

After the Tianwen-1 mission, China will have a number of Tianwen series of planetary endeavors to explore the universe, according to a Chinese scientist.

Wu Weiren, the chief designer of China's lunar exploration program, said the country's deep space exploration will continue and its Mars mission will be followed by the Tianwen-2, Tianwen-3, and Tianwen-4.

Launched on July 23, 2020, China's Tianwen-1, comprised of an orbiter, lander and rover, arrived on Mars in February last year. Mars rover Zhurong drove down from its landing platform to the Martian surface on May 22, 2021, and has conducted exploration of the red planet.

The main task of the follow-ups is to explore the asteroids in deep space and bring asteroid samples back to Earth, Wu said in a recent interview.

He also disclosed future plans including explorations of Venus and asteroids in deep space. "We will carry out early warnings for asteroids that may pose a threat to human beings and may hit Earth," Wu said.