In 2015, Russia is planning to launch an unmanned probe to the moon.
The probe, named Luna-Glob or Moon-Globe, will be launched by the inaugural rocket from a newly constructed facility in the Amur region, located in Russia’s far east.
It will feature both an orbital module and a landing probe that will collect samples from the moon’s surface and transmit data back to Earth.
‘From there, we will commence our exploration of the moon,’ stated Roskosmos director Vladimir Popovkin.
This new space center aims to reduce Russia’s dependence on the Baikonur Cosmodrome located in Kazakhstan, which is a site they currently lease.
The state-run news agency Ria Novosti reported that the craft will include dust monitors and plasma sensors to detect high-energy cosmic rays.
This upcoming mission marks Russia’s first attempt to return to the moon since the 1970s.
During the Cold War space race, the Soviet Union outpaced the United States by launching a probe to the moon in 1959 and sending the first human into space in 1961.
However, the United States successfully landed the first man on the moon in 1969, a feat that has yet to be achieved by Russia.
Although Russia was the first country to successfully land on the moon in 1959, ten years prior to Neil Armstrong, it has faced challenges with its lunar probe missions. The most ambitious probe, the $160 million Fobos-Grunt mission intended for Mars, failed in 2011 after becoming stranded in low Earth orbit.
Now, the Russian space agency is preparing to revisit the moon with a planned unmanned mission for 2015, utilizing the newly established facility in eastern Amur to replace the historically significant Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
The last unmanned mission to the moon by Russia took place in 1976.
The most recent successful Soviet launch of an unmanned lunar probe occurred in the 1970s, but Russia has experienced difficulties in its space program lately, with problematic satellite launches and the unsuccessful Mars probe mission in 2011.
Last month, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev approved a plan to invest 2.1 trillion roubles ($70 billion) in the space industry between 2013 and 2020, focusing on lunar and Mars exploration projects, among other initiatives.
by David Livingstone
