Moscow, Beijing consider joint Moon mission

Moscow, Beijing consider joint Moon mission

October 31, 2005 05:40 PM

Russia's Federal Space Agency deputy chief Yury Nosenko said on Monday that his country and China are in discussions on the possibility of boldly going where only one other nation has gone before - the Moon.

Chinese officials have approached Moscow about jointly participating in lunar exploration missions, the first of which will be an unmanned probe scheduled for launch in 2012.

SANYA (China), October 31 (Interfax) - Russian Federal Space Agency deputy chief Yury Nosenko believes that Russia and China may undertake a major Moon mission in the coming years.

China has asked Russia to participate in its unmanned lunar probe program, Nosenko told reporters on Monday.

Russia did similar research in the 1960s-70s and will only assist China in the implementation of the project, Nosenko said.

After China completes this research, Russia may consider a joint program for the study and exploration of the Moon, probably in 2012, when Russia is planning to launch a research probe to the Moon.

"After that, we may undertake a joint project designed for 5-10 years," Nosenko said.

The final stage of this project will be a manned lunar mission, which requires a detailed geographic, geologic and ballistic study of the Moon's surface and the creation of spare parts bases and water reserves, he said.

Meeting in Beijing on November 3, the Russian and Chinese premiers are expected to instruct government agencies to prepare the necessary documents for a 10 year space cooperation program due to be launched in 2007.