The space race has been going on for the better part of 70 years. It’s been a constant back and forth between two major powers, being Russia and the United States. Over time other competitors have come and gone but these two have remained the same. At the moment not only are the US and Russia involved but now China has emerged as another competitor in the race. Simply making it into space is no longer a goal and is a regular occurrence. The next stage is the race to make it to Mars.

Our closest neighbor Mars has been a fascination by humanity for ages but wanting to set foot on the planet is a relatively new concept. After the moon landing in 1969 people have been asking what’s next, the answer being Mars. Making it there is not as simple as something like a satellite launch or a mission to the moon; It’s astronomically more difficult than either. Making it there would be extremely expensive and time-consuming.

Morals are also a problem when considering a mission to Mars. The trip would be so long that getting there would be a one way trip for anyone willing to go. The amount of food and water needed to sustain a crew of astronauts over the course of a trip to Mars would be so much that making it there with enough for them to survive would be challenging let alone making it back would be impossible.

Not to say humanity will never make it there, though. Most experts think we will make it there before the end of the century. Groups like NASA are collaborating all over the world all from different nations. Nations like the USA, Russia and the NATO allies are all working in collaboration to make space more understood and get us off Earth and into the cosmos. There is one oddball in the world, though. The world power China is not totally invested in these groups so they do not share the same goals necessarily or are making the same progress as the others. This is because legislation in the US has been passed so that groups like NASA cannot work with the Chinese over concerns of national security.

The main problem the world’s scientist are trying to figure out is getting to the planet quick. Due to a lack of technology we are faced with one main problem, speed. The problem with current methods is we are transporting too much cargo with not enough power to move them at a high enough rate.

China is a very powerful country and would truly be an invaluable asset to the effort of space exploration and the understanding of it. The likelihood of them joining in any major group effort alongside the US are very little at the moment until the relationship between the two countries stabilizes. Not to say however that progress cannot be made as every day we become one step closer to becoming a Species that inhabits not one, but two planets.