Photo: Youtube screenshot/The Expanse
Having started the whole space race in the middle of last century, Russia has long lost the lead to the Americans, the Europeans, the Japanese and most recently to the Chinese.
Seeing that the U.S. has pretty much gotten hold of the Mars with the few existing and planned rovers it has in place, Vladimir Putin’s Russia will try and get back some of the former glory established by Laika or Gagarin.
To date, despite the numerous missions planned for the Red Planet, the Russian have only partially managed to reach their goal. Most of their missions failed, some reached orbit, only a few landed, but subsequent failures made their fate unknown.
As the country regains its international prestige, it seeks to gain interplanetary recognition as well. The country’s president said this month that next year the Russian space program would be revived in style.
According to The Independent, Russia will send several landers to Mars in the coming years, starting with 2019. At first, the missions would be unmanned, but will later be crewed.
Details of the spacecrafts, landers or rovers designed by the Russian space agency are completely unknown. It is unlikely though Russia will benefit from help from private contractors the likes of SpaceX or Astrobotics.
Aside for interplanetary launches, Russia also aims to develop an ISS-based space shuttle, which will be used to send humans and cargo to the Moon and Mars without the need of having it exit Earth’s gravity pull every time it takes off.
Should Putin’s plans to send mission to Mars become a reality, the move would prompt an even fiercer fight between the biggest players in space exploration. So much so, that we might even get companies like Elon Musk’s accelerating their programs for a chance to be the first to set foot on the Red Planet.
To date, despite the numerous missions planned for the Red Planet, the Russian have only partially managed to reach their goal. Most of their missions failed, some reached orbit, only a few landed, but subsequent failures made their fate unknown.
As the country regains its international prestige, it seeks to gain interplanetary recognition as well. The country’s president said this month that next year the Russian space program would be revived in style.
According to The Independent, Russia will send several landers to Mars in the coming years, starting with 2019. At first, the missions would be unmanned, but will later be crewed.
Details of the spacecrafts, landers or rovers designed by the Russian space agency are completely unknown. It is unlikely though Russia will benefit from help from private contractors the likes of SpaceX or Astrobotics.
Aside for interplanetary launches, Russia also aims to develop an ISS-based space shuttle, which will be used to send humans and cargo to the Moon and Mars without the need of having it exit Earth’s gravity pull every time it takes off.
Should Putin’s plans to send mission to Mars become a reality, the move would prompt an even fiercer fight between the biggest players in space exploration. So much so, that we might even get companies like Elon Musk’s accelerating their programs for a chance to be the first to set foot on the Red Planet.
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