Russia plans unmanned moon mission in 2015

January 15, 2013 03:16 pm | Updated 03:16 pm IST - MOSCOW

An unmanned spacecraft to the moon in 2015 from a new launch pad in the country’s Far East will be sent, the Russian Space Agency has said.

Roscosmos head Vladimir Popovkin told Russian news agencies on Tuesday that the rocket booster would deliver a 500 kg (1,100-pound) space exploration vehicle with up to 25 kg (55 pounds) of scientific equipment that would search for water and take soil samples.

Mr. Popovkin said the moon-bound spacecraft would be launched from Russia’s new Vostochny cosmodrome. President Vladimir Putin has vowed to invest $1 billion in building this launch pad in the Amur Region not far from the Chinese border.

Russia’s last and only moon mission was accomplished in 1973.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.