Russia plans to send man to the Moon by 2030.

16/03/2012

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According to the Russian online news site, Kommersant, the Russian Space Agency (Roscosmos) is setting out its aims for the next 18 years, and these will include the deployment of research stations on Mars, as well as a first Russian manned mission to the Moon.

The space agency has seen some hard times recently with satellites failing to reach orbit and a high-profile Mars mission, the Fobos Grunt, suffering a rocket failure and crashing back down to Earth in 2011.

However, undeterred, Russia’s new plans are focusing the highest priority on technological development and modernization, and will probably see new purchases of rocket technology from abroad in order to achieve its goal.

By 2030, Russia should be able "to conduct a manned circum-lunar test flight with the subsequent landing of cosmonauts on its surface and their return to Earth," the Roscosmos plan is quoted as saying.

The agency also hopes to join other nations in deploying a network of long-term research stations on Mars that could be used a stepping stone for an eventual colonization of the Red Planet.

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Troubles ahead for the ISS program?

31/08/2011

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The possibility has emerged that the International Space Station (ISS) may be left unmanned for a period of time if launch problems with the Russian Soyuz rockets cannot be rectified soon.

Earlier this month, 24th August 2011, saw the crash soon after launch from Kazakhstan of an unmanned Soyuz carrying food and fuel to the ISS, following the failure of one of the booster rockets. The Russian Space Agency Roscosmos has delayed the next manned mission by at least a month to allow time for safety checks to be carried out, and it is likely that at least two test launches of an unmanned rocket will be conducted before sending anymore astronauts up.

 The delay means that replacement crew will not go to the ISS until late October at the earliest, assuming that all goes well with the testing. The station is currently manned by a team of 6, with 3 likely to return to Earth in mid September and a decision needing to be made about the remaining crew.

Alexei Krasnov, head of manned flights at Roscosmos recently indicated that: 'If for any reason we will not be able to deliver the crew before the end of November, we will need to review all possibilities including leaving the station unmanned.'

The ISS has been continuously manned for more than a decade. It can in fact be flown without a crew if needed, though this is not an ideal situation as repairs can be made and problems fixed faster with crew members onboard, reducing the possibilities of major damage occurring. 

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Gagarin comes to London once more after 50 years . . . . . .

18/07/2011

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This week in London saw the unveiling of a tribute to Russian Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, 50 years after he became the first man in Space on 12th April 1961, and also half a century after he visited London and was greeted by cheering crowds on July 14th that same year.  

 The statue, which is a gift from the Russian Space Agency Roscosmos, is placed just off The Mall outside the British Council offices, and opposite the statue of another great explorer Captain James Cook. The monument showing Gagarin standing on a globe in his spacesuit, is a copy of one that can be found just outside Moscow, in the town of Lyubertsy where Gagarin worked in his teens as a foundry worker. 

In addition to the statue, an exhibition called 'Gagarin in Britain' is also taking place at the British Council from 19 July to 13 September 2011. The display includes items from the Vostok manned space program, the first space suit, and an ejector seat from the model used by Gagarin when he parachuted out of Vostok 1 at an altitude of 7km.

It is an excellent opportunity to see some of the earliest space items that marked the beginning of space exploration so get along there if you are in the city – I certainly hope to in August!
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