Russia is about to launch an unmanned spacecraft to Mars
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that his country's first unmanned spacecraft will be launched to Mars in 2019.
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Mars is the target of conquest by many space powers. Photo:Space. |
President Vladimir Putin said Russia is launching a series of ambitious missions to explore Mars, starting with the launch of an unmanned spacecraft to the red planet next year.Reuterstoday news
"We are planning to launch unmanned and, further, manned spacecraft into space, as part of the lunar exploration and Mars exploration program. The next mission will be launched soon, Russia will launch an unmanned mission to Mars in 2019," President Putin revealed in an interview.
In addition to the Mars exploration mission, President Putin also revealed more about Russia's future lunar exploration program. He said that Russian experts will try to land near the Moon's south pole to study the possibility of water in 2019. The program also includes plans for the more distant future, such as a mission to collect lunar soil samples and bring them back to Earth by 2025 and building a research base on the Moon in the 2040s or 2050s.
The race to explore Mars is becoming increasingly fierce with the participation of many space powers.Elon Musk, boss of the American aerospace company SpaceX, also announced earlier this week that he would launch a spacecraft to Mars in 2019.