http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/02/26 ... 11_budget/

but it *is* interesting when you consider China has stated publicly that it is developing the technology to mine minerals on Mars for use in China.

Hmmmmm . . .

A brief overview of Mars . . .

http://blogs.discovery.com/good_idea/20 ... -mars.html

mining on mars...?... now that would involve a huge cost/benefit analysis... and who wants to live on Mars?

Let's say we do manage to get to Mars, and even manage to mine it for precious metals -- platinum, gold -- how do you get it back to Earth? In talking with O'Neill, it would cost hundreds of billions of dollars to carry those metals all the way back down here, not to mention the cost of equipment to get up there. "Makes no business sense," O'Neill said.

BUT, if we were to settle on the Red Planet, and do all of the manufacturing in space -- robots used to look for the metals, establish refineries, build spaceships -- using as many of the local materials available on Mars as possible, then we could cut down on the cost.

but how can we live on mars?

I thought the article was interesting on its own. It shows that NASA lacks a plan B for space exploration once the International Space Station is retired in 5 years time. The ISS has been an ultra-expensive endeavour and cannot maintain altitude due to orbital drag, and may not give us much warning anyway in the case of catastrophic solar surges.

The China bit about mining on Mars, which wasn't in the article, look, I suspect that's just the roostering behaviour of an emerging superpower. India says that sort of thing as well. It's not really a competition.

Yes, I suspect that's true . . . the rooster call bit . . . but it's interesting that the US felt the need to rooster call back . . . it's the political equivalent of "I know you are but what am I?"

And I thought China's announcement was public knowledge, but it appears it was directed solely at the US . . . so what to make of that? Hmmmm

Or even worse, maybe it was an international rooster call, and we were the only country that felt the need to respond . . . sigh.

Common knowledge? Perhaps not. Directed solely at the US? Perhaps not. An international rooster call to which only the US felt the need to respond? Circumspection may be warranted - checked online archives, nothing turned up.

It's like this. If I want to know the official announcements by the Chinese government, I don't read the Australian press, much less consider reading US news sources. Much better to read the China Daily, then you can be more confident about what is "common knowledge" and what is being spun specifically for domestic readership. I also read the Tehran Times for similar reasons.

I'm not sure what you're googling but the information is readily available on the internet . . .

Here's one source which will give you the background links (such as the 2007 agreement where Russia and China officially announced their respective Mars policy) . . .

http://21stcenturywaves.com/2010/03/27/ ... and-china/

There's literally hundreds of posts if you key in "China announces mars probe for mineral" . . .

You also might want to google "China colonization of Mars" . . . it's pretty well documented . . . so I'm not sure why you're not finding it . . .

I'd searched China Daily archives. There were articles on the Mars mission 2009, but no mention of "probe for minerals".

Ahhhh . . . a straight google will yield the information . . . ok then. This probe has been in the news for roughly four years now, and when you said I couldn't find it . . . I thought, "have I been imagining the last four years?" So, I'm glad you clarified . . . because I thought I was crazy for a while . . .

I checked People's Daily (China), back to 2008, where it mentioned the space exploration of Mars and looking for mineral composition , but I understood this as scientific research more than looking for ways to mine Mars. When I did the general google, I did notice an official notice made by the Chinese government in 2005 saying the probe would bring back mineral samples.