Planners have mapped out a 400 million yuan ($61 million) development plan to turn a red rock basin in China into a Mars scientific research base and eco-tourism site.
Liu Xiaoqun, from the moon and deep-space exploration department of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said on Tuesday that a planning meeting was held in Haixi Mongolian and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Northwest China's Qinghai Province to determine the development of the Mars simulation base.
China has started an unmanned Mars probe project and plans to launch the probe around 2020.
