May 15, 2008

Race To The Moon

Who will make it first, now that the Russians and Europeans are looking at a joint venture?

Russia and Europe are teaming up to build a spaceship which will fly astronauts to the moon, Russia said on Wednesday, although the European Space Agency struck a more cautious note.

The first test flight is set for 2015 and the first manned flight is planned for 2018, Russian space agency Roskosmos said.

"The European Space Agency (ESA) and Roskosmos both have the technologies and unique experience in designing various space systems to be able to create jointly a hi-tech vehicle," Roskosmos said on its website (www.roscosmos.ru).
"(This would) enable us to carry crews of up to six people to near-earth and lunar orbits." Roskosmos said the craft would allow "expeditions to the moon" but did not say whether landings were envisaged.

This would, of course, mean that there are multiple lunar programs – the planned US return to the moon, this Russian/European venture, the Red Chinese, the Indians – and we will have an honest-to-God space race on our hands. Anyone want to see about getting the private sector involved to beat the all?

Posted by: Greg at 11:28 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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