China is preparing for its first-ever delivery of Martian soil samples to Earth. Before that, the country will build a special laboratory where materials from the Red Planet will be checked for potential biological threats, according to infohub.kz.
The laboratory will be located in the Deep Space Science City in Hefei. It will operate on the principle of "two-way protection": preventing contamination of Martian samples with Earth microorganisms and eliminating potential risks to Earth's biosphere. The facility will sterilize, open, and study the delivered soil, as well as assess its biological safety.
The Tianwen-3 mission is scheduled to launch around 2028, with samples expected to return to Earth by 2031. According to Li Han, director of the strategic planning department at the Deep Space Exploration Laboratory, China intends to strictly adhere to international planetary protection standards to avoid both contaminating Mars with Earth organisms and posing a potential threat to Earth.
The new program continues research initiated by the Zhurong rover, which successfully landed on Mars in 2021. During its year of operation, the rover traveled nearly two kilometers and collected valuable scientific data that will help prepare the mission to bring back Martian soil.