A SECOND Space Race could be heating up as China mulls plans to visit Earth’s other planetary neighbor.

China is ramping up its space exploration efforts on the heels of Nasa’s announcement that they will send two probes to Venus at the end of the decade.

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Nasa has high hopes for DAVINCI+ and VERITAS, the two missions that will scan the chemistry of the Venusian atmosphere and map the terrain of the hostile planet from above.

Scientific ears have perked up over Venus – phosphine, a chemical “associated with life processes on Earth” was discovered in clouds on the planet next door.

Venus is very similar to Earth in its size and density.

Some theorize the missions to Venus will lend itself to the discovery of more key similarities, like conclusive signs of tectonic plates or dried oceans. 

“That quest for habitability is part of our search for signs of life in the Nasa framework,” Dr. James Garvin, the principal investigator for the DAVINCI+ mission to Venus, told The Sun in an exclusive interview about trekking to Venus. “We can all dare to hope.”

Wu Weiren, the chief designer of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program, recently announced that the country would consider adding missions to Venus to its already-crowded schedule of spaceflights.

From the US perspective, government officials will be keen on how much China collaborates with Russia on space quests, as Russia and the US recently cut ties on a planned mission to Venus.

The quest to reach Mars remains just as hot with viability from governments and the private sector.

Elon Musk, one of if not the most vocal proponents of manned interplanetary travel, told Twitter followers that he expects to put people on Mars by 2024.

SpaceX, Musk’s company, works in tandem with the US government through shared contracts with Nasa – right now, it looks like our best vehicle for enacting Americans’ boldest dreams of space exploration.

Meanwhile, the Chinese government’s Tianwen program is underway with three missions to the red planet scheduled since landing the unmanned Tianwen 1 probe on Mars in 2021.

The Space Race between the Soviet Union and the US was an economic and technological war with huge implications for global military dominance.

This time around, the stakes are interplanetary.