Applications are open for international science projects to join China’s Tianwen-3 mission to Mars, indicating that it is on track to launch in 2028 and increasingly likely to be first in the race to retrieve samples from the red planet.
As the official invitation was issued by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) on Wednesday, Nasa was facing new challenges – including the loss of its chief scientist – in the first round of cuts ordered by President Donald Trump and in the midst of uncertainties about its own Mars mission.
