Aiming to create the first base
on the surface of the moon, Russia has started building a
spacecraft for manned Lunar missions with the first test scheduled in 2015
(unmanned), a move that is seen as a step toward the manned flight to mass. "The
work has already started. The unmanned tests are scheduled in 2015, the first
manned mission is planned in 2018," head of the Central Research Institute
of Machine Building Gennady said.
He said, “These spaceships are designed to land on
and lift off from the Moon, work as space tug boats and service modules for
other space vehicles. Roscosmos (Russian
space agency) has planned the creation of a new manned transport system to
conduct manned flights to the Moon and to service the vehicles in space”.
"It is necessary to determine the main
direction of manned cosmonautics development. Current strategy envisages
focusing on the manned flights to the Moon, including the creation of a base on
its surface," he said.
Last week, head of the Lavochkin Scientific and Production
Corp. Victor Khartov said Russia must "return to the Moon in 2015 in a
Soviet style, to prove everyone and ourselves that we remember all the Soviet
Union could do".
