spacetoday.net: Russia, China planning joint Mars mission

Posted: Thu, Aug 24, 2006, 7:05 AM ET (1105 GMT)
Russia and China are planning to cooperate on a robotic Mars mission later this decade that could be the first to return Mars samples to Earth. Chinese state media reported Wednesday that China would work with Russia on the development of a Mars mission slated for launch in 2009. The mission "will collect samples on Mars and the planet's nearest moon", according to Chinese reports, but offered no additional details. The mission in question appears to be Phobos-Grunt, a planned Russian mission that would study Mars and collect samples from the Martian moon of Phobos, although not from Mars itself, and return those samples to Earth. Phobos-Grunt would be Russia's first Mars mission since the failed Mars 96 mission a decade ago; China has not sent any missions to Mars.